The wicket for Melbourne.

[8ace]

They play AFL at all the test grounds (maybe not at the WACA) so they all have drop in pitches.

 

[Billy the Fish]

Er, no... cricket grounds have a number of pitches[ on The Square in various states of preparation. this is achieved by the simple expedient of a combination of watering,resting,grass cutting and rolling. The pitch which was going to be used for the Melbourne test has simply been swapped, ie,the attention from the groundsmen has been transfered to a pitch which ,the Aussies hope, will be more bouncy and fast after our capitulation on the fast and bouncy WACA wicket.so we move maybe 20 yards to the left or right of the original pitch.... you have not been charged for this information..

You're talking nonsense, see below

two stories are being confused here.

I went to the MCG four years ago when we got trounced. Because the MCG is used for Aussie rules football they literally deliver the finished wickets on huge pallets and drop them into the square, all pristine and perfect. That is standard procedure for the MCG, and they do it incredibly well.

What's happened this time is that they have dropped the test wicket into the wrong slot on the square, meaning that all the television cameras have had to be moved slightly so they are directly in line with the intedned wicket. Mike Atherton heard that the cameras were being moved a bit, and assumed that they had decided to use a different strip, thereby concluding sone sharp practice was at play.

But all that happend was that they dropped the strip into the wrong slot. Nothing to see here, now move along.

Correct, explained on their website. I did see something on telly that showed the massive machine that drops the strip in, but it's not on youtube unfortunately

http://www.mcg.org.au/The%20MCG%20Stadium/Portable%20Cricket%20Pitches.aspx

 

[vegster]

You're talking nonsense, see below



Correct, explained on their website. I did see something on telly that showed the massive machine that drops the strip in, but it's not on youtube unfortunately

http://www.mcg.org.au/The%20MCG%20Stadium/Portable%20Cricket%20Pitches.aspx

Oh dear... so the " Test Wicket" has been just dropped in to the wrong place ?... mnnn. I think that you will find that the Square of wickets may be dropped in but, it is not a designated "Test Wicket", all are equally playable as "Test Wickets" given a few weeks preparation. If a pitch is given more water and the grass is cut slightly longer just before a match it will affect the way it plays. Also rolling will have an effect as to the pace and bounce. Wickets are used several times in a season and the thought of them just being dropped in a few days before use IS laughable

 

[seagullwedgee]

yeah right. whatever.

 

[rcf0712]

Just seen it on sky. Hope it backfires big time and we win the ashes and Ponting gets the sack. I class what they are doing as cheating.

No, no , no ,no, no, don't be a one eyed idiot. Taking the bowler's off for a shower / change of clothes / massage after each spell and putting on a gun fielder as 12th man each time was cheating. Preparing a pitch to suit the home side is part and parcel of the game and always has been......ffs

 

[Jimbo.GRFC]

Just seen it on sky. Hope it backfires big time and we win the ashes and Ponting gets the sack. I class what they are doing as cheating.

Cheating Aussie B"""""ds, no wonder we shipped them out there. I'm more than confident that we'll win in Melbourne. Did the stadium tour there a few years ago, long room etc. Very, very impressive stadium. There was a juniors final on at the time and from one of the top levels you cannot see a thing. Stadium was obviously empty but I can only but imagine what the atmosphere will be like with 90,000 hungover English/Aussies. Oddly enough, the day we did that tour we went to a bar directly outside Flinders Street Station, I had my Seagulls cap on, when I went to the bar it turned out the Aussie barman used to work at Grubbs in London Road....wouldnt take a penny from us for our drinks and completely raved about Brighton, basically got steamed up for zilch..To be fair, Melbourne is a fantastic place and they love their sport. If your reading this and your over there, stuff it up em.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

and the thought of them just being dropped in a few days before use IS laughable

You might consider it laughable, but its true. That is exactly what happens.

 

[Marc]

Lovely to see opinions in this thread, tell me, how many of you who "know" what you're talking about are actually groundsmen?

 

[8ace]

Lovely to see opinions in this thread, tell me, how many of you who "know" what you're talking about are actually groundsmen?

If you worked in Australia you'd be a "curator"

 

[simmo]

You might consider it laughable, but its true. That is exactly what happens.

And it has been for years and in other places in the world too at multi purpose stadia. NZ do it too at there cricket grounds which double up as rugby grounds.

Perth and Melbourne also have completely different soils and weather patterns (Melbourne much cooler and wetter?) that allow the WACA (Perth) to be much quicker and bouncier. They may have changed the pitch to a faster one but it will still be soil grown in Melbourne and should be nowhere near as fast as Perth. Unless the Aussies are that desperate and have flown a bit of turf on a 5 hour flight from Perth to Melbourne

 

[Marc]

If you worked in Australia you'd be a "curator"

Lol amazing

 

[8ace]

Lol amazing

One thing I noticed was how few strips they have on the square at the Gabba, about six, compared to what, about 15 at Hove?

 

[Danny-Boy]

I don't think they've had enough time to recreate that Perth pitch...it takes longer than a week. The conditions in Melbourne don't help either. Interestingly, heavy rain is forecast for pretty much the whole Sydney test so Melbourne could be the one that decides it

Blimey that's a bit of an advanced forecast isn't it? Or is the weather more predictable down under?

The Oz team certainly isn't!

 

[Danny-Boy]

You might consider it laughable, but its true. That is exactly what happens.

What also happens at the MCG is that it turns virtually overnight from a cricket ground to an Aussie Rules stadium.

I saw the World Cup Final there in 1992 which we lost thanks to some dodgy captaincy from Goochy IMHO, and then a couple of weeks later the Hawks took on North Melbourne!

 

[Danny-Boy]

Lovely to see opinions in this thread, tell me, how many of you who "know" what you're talking about are actually groundsmen?

Ermm.. are YOU a defunct pop idol by any chance? Just that about every Xmas I go to the bridge on Barnes Common, just wondered if you might put in an appearance

 

[Simster]

I wish we had a couple of massive cricket stadiums like Australia have. Too bad our other popular sports don't require such enormous playing surfaces I suppose.

 

[Marc]

One thing I noticed was how few strips they have on the square at the Gabba, about six, compared to what, about 15 at Hove?

Yeah 15 +3 practice wickets, I'm gonna read up on drop in wickets to learn more about them, not that we'll ever have them just interested!

 

[8ace]

I wish we had a couple of massive cricket stadiums like Australia have. Too bad our other popular sports don't require such enormous playing surfaces I suppose.

I don't. The G and the Gabba are both pretty soulless concrete bowls.

 

[8ace]

Yeah 15 +3 practice wickets, I'm gonna read up on drop in wickets to learn more about them, not that we'll ever have them just interested!

Will the relaid wickets at Hove be ready for next season? Do you think they will be a bit more pacey?

 

[Simster]

I don't. The G and the Gabba are both pretty soulless concrete bowls.

Indeed, Brisbane in particular has always been accused of that. But I bet the MCG isn't, with 90,000 rocking the place.