Aaron Finch calls for relocation of Melbourne Renegades until and unless there is improvement in the Marvel surface.
Aaron Finch calls for Renegades move unless Marvel surface improves.
In future BBL seasons, Cricket Australia may decide to postpone playing at Marvel Stadium until later in the summer. This is because Melbourne Renegades star Aaron Finch urged the team to explore moving to Geelong instead.
When a patchy-looking outfield marred the Renegades’ victory over the Perth Scorchers on Monday night. Finch was one of several people criticising the venue on Tuesday. After the roof was closed for two days owing to rainy conditions. The pitch became challenging to bat on, and the Scorchers had trouble scoring early.
Two days prior, during the Sydney Smash. There had been similar problems at Sydney’s Engie Stadium. There were vast areas of earth without any grass covering them.
Both grounds serve as multipurpose spaces, and Pearl Jam performances have been the main attraction at numerous events held in between the AFL and BBL seasons. Prior to Monday’s game, Marvel Stadium hosted an annual RMIT university graduation last Wednesday as well.
BBL boss Alistair Dobson also admitted on Tuesday he was “disappointed”, conceding the ground was “presented poorly”.
“By and large they present good outfields and good wickets. Particularly as we get further into the season. Dobson said on SEN. That [multi-purpose aspect] does come with some trade offs. But we don’t expect it to be the size of the trade off we saw last night.”
“Last night would certainly give us cause to reflect on that and whether we schedule in a different way going forward,” Dobson said. “The trade off on that though is you end up with a lot of games in a short period. It’s a balance between the best possible preparation and spacing games out to give fans a chance to go.”
The way the subpar outfields represent the BBL abroad during a summer when domestic attendance and TV ratings have increased by 30% is CA’s other worry.
According to officials, Finch’s planned full-time move to Geelong is improbable since Melbourne needs two teams to support it on and off the pitch.
The idea that the Renegades should leave Marvel Stadium and join the Melbourne Stars at the MCG was also dismissed by Dobson.
“We have two clubs in Melbourne that have different identities and different fan bases and different history,” Dobson said. “The Melbourne Stars are iconic to the MCG and the Renegades are keen to have a point of difference on that.”