The Big Bash Clash between Melbourne Renegades and Perth Scorchers being played at the Simonds Stadium in Geelong had to be called off owing to safety concerns. The T20 fixture was abandoned after 41 legal deliveries into the Scorchers Innings due to safety concerns on a water-damaged pitch. Even though the ground staff at the stadium tried their best to have the surface ready for playing conditions, rain had managed to creep under the covers. Renegades skipper Nic Maddinson had declared at the toss itself that the conditions were not good for batting which is why he asked Scorchers to bat first.
The scoreboard showed Scorchers 30 at the loss of 2 wickets in 6.5 overs which was when the umpires stopped play to have a look at the pitch. Shortly after, the fixture had to be suspneded.
"CA will conduct a thorough review into the extremely frustrating circumstances that have resulted in the game being abandoned and a huge disappointment for fans and players," Cricket Australia (CA) said in an official statement.
Also Read | Big Bash League (BBL) 2023-24: Schedule, Format, Live Streaming & Telecast Details
It is pertinent to note that the decision was taken after concerns were raised by the batters over inconsistent bounce especially from Scorchers' Josh Inglis. At the time when the play was called off, Aaron Hardie was batting on 20 off 23 balls while Inglish was batting on 3 off 7 deliveries.
"That last delivery we saw behave quite uncharacteristically and in our minds we thought it behaved dangerously so that was the reason for coming off," Umpire Ben Treloar told Seven.
"When we initially started we saw the pitch, we had a good look at it, [but] until you start playing on it sometimes these things don't present themselves. After the first few overs we were quite hopeful it was going to be okay but then it started to go south and that last one was enough for us to consider it dangerous," he said.