WACA officials concede to MCG over Boxing Day Test

WACA officials concede they won’t snatch the Boxing Day Test away from Melbourne now or any time soon

Adam Gilchrist says no ground has a God-given right to the Boxing Day Test.

WACA officials concede they won’t snatch the Boxing Day Test away from Melbourne now or any time soon, despite continual concerns over the MCG pitch.

Perth’s 60,000-seat Optus Stadium has been floated as a possible option for the Christmas clash, with the Western Australia Cricket Association keen on the idea.

Chairman Mike McKenna first raised the push last December, and was again vocal in his calls for Boxing Day to be moved following the MCG’s pitch issues last weekend.

Adam Gilchrist poured even more fuel onto the fire this week, backing up Michael Vaughan’s claims that no ground had any God-given right to host an event. But WACA chief executive Christina Matthews admitted it wasn’t at all likely they would claim the rights to cricket’s showpiece Test.

“They (Cricket Australia) are not looking at moving anything from Melbourne on Boxing Day,” Matthews said. “We know how sensitive Melbourne people are about the Boxing Day Test. We’re quite happy with the schedule, we’ve got a big BBL game that follows the day in Melbourne.”

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Gilchrist meanwhile would like to see Boxing Day played on Perth’s drop-in wicket, be it at Optus Stadium or the MCG.

“The romantic, the historian in me would love to see it stay at that iconic venue,” said Gilchrist, who is leading Fox Cricket’s coverage of the Perth Test.

“There’s an obligation to maintain wickets and … this hasn’t snuck up on anyone, the Boxing Day Test and the fact these ­wickets are clearly starting to struggle. There’s no God-given right. It would be a shame to see it leave there. But if they can’t produce it, other options probably should be taken into account.

“Could you take one of these (Optus drop-ins) ones over there? Why couldn’t you? Stick them on a truck, couldn’t you?”

Not that it’s likely any time soon, given it took five hours to move the Optus Stadium drop-in wickets across the river from the WACA two seasons ago.

AAP