Boxing Day hopes high despite 'unplayable' MCG pitch

Cricket Australia expressed disappointment in the MCG pitch but stressed it would double down on efforts to ensure a good surface is produced for the upcoming Boxing Day Test, following the abandonment of play in the venue’s final match before the showpiece fixture.

A wounded Western Australian side are hesitant to resume their Marsh Sheffield Shield game against Victoria after a wild MCG pitch was deemed unsafe for play on Saturday, as two of their batters underwent concussion tests having copped balls to the helmet.

Just 40 overs were possible on the opening day before the pitch was deemed too dangerous for play to continue. Divots had formed and then hardened on the drop-in surface, causing deliveries to rear violently and forcing WA's top order to endure numerous body blows.

WA captain Shaun Marsh (14 off 57 balls) and teammate Marcus Stoinis (two not out off 27 balls) copped the worst of the knocks, with both set for concussion tests on Saturday afternoon.

Marsh was struck in the grille of the helmet off a length delivery from Victoria’s chief destroyer Peter Siddle (3-21 off 14 overs) while Stoinis was floored after being smashed in the ribs by an Andrew Fekete lifter, which proved the final straw for the umpires. 

Marsh cast doubt on the likelihood of play resuming in the game, despite officials scheduling a 10am start for Sunday and ground staff working overtime to improve the pitch.

"It was obviously an interesting few hours out there," Marsh told the ABC. "Player safety is the most important thing and unfortunately the wicket was unfit to play on.

"The wicket was very wet underneath and it was creating divots out there, which made the ball rise off a good length. As the game got in it got worse and worse out there – disappointing.

"I probably got hit four or five times, and we saw after lunch when the wicket got a little bit harder and there was a lot of divots out there it became unplayable.

"We saw guys getting hit on the head and it was disappointing… at this stage, I can’t see us getting back on."

WA coach Adam Voges added: "How can they prove to us that it's all of a sudden safe now? That'll be the discussion in the morning.

"It's about player safety at the end of the day, we won't put our players out on a wicket that we feel is not safe. We'll make that decision in the morning."

The MCG pitch has been under immense scrutiny in recent years after the drawn fourth Ashes Test in 2017 was so lifeless that it received a "poor" rating by the International Cricket Council.

Highly-rated curator Matt Page, who worked at the WACA Ground for five years, has since been hired by the Melbourne Cricket Club to oversee pitches at the MCG.

Both Voges and his Victorian counterpart Lachlan Stevens (a former coach of WA's men side) expressed sympathy for Page's task, while Cricket Australia's cricket operations chief Peter Roach allayed concerns over the Boxing Day pitch.

Page had earnt praise for the MCG pitch that was produced for last month’s Victoria-Queensland Shield game, which the visitors won on day four in the penultimate over of the match.

“We’re very disappointed at today’s play being abandoned in the Marsh Sheffield Shield match between Victoria and Western Australia,” Roach said. “But we also acknowledge that there have been two previous Shield matches at the MCG this season without incident.

“Matt Page and the MCG groundstaff have more than two weeks to ensure the Test surface, which is a different pitch strip to the one being used in this match, is of international standard.

“We will seek to better understand the issues that resulted in variable bounce at the MCG on Saturday. We will also work closely with MCG groundstaff in the lead up to the Test match."

Former Australia and WA batsman Voges knows Page from his time in the west and suggested there has been extreme pressure placed on him to make the MCG pitch offer more to bowlers.

Victoria captain Peter Handscomb had called for a livelier track after their previous game against NSW finished in a draw earlier this week.

"I do feel for Matt Page. He worked at the WACA, I think he's a great curator," said Voges. "He has been under enormous pressure to get some life out of this wicket - probably some undue pressure at times. 

"I certainly feel for him, this is not what he wanted – it's not what anyone wanted. He's still working tireless to try and prepare it. it's just unfortunate."

If play is abandoned, CA's playing conditions dictate that each side will get three points plus bonus points, which will be determined by the average number of bonus points awarded in the ongoing round's other two games.

Victoria were awarded full points following a Shield game against NSW in 2015 that was called off due to an unsafe SCG outfield, but the rules have since been amended.

Victoria: Marcus Harris, Nic Maddinson, Will Pucovski, Peter Handscomb (c), Aaron Finch, Matt Short, Sam Harper (wk), Will Sutherland, Chris Tremain, Peter Siddle, Andrew Fekete

Western Australia: Cameron Bancroft, Jake Carder, Shaun Marsh (c), Marcus Stoinis, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis (wk), Ashton Agar, Joel Paris, Matthew Kelly, David Moody, Simon Mackin