- Surface of Marvel Stadium has been slammed by fans
- Stadium has hosted several concerts recently
- Coach of Perth Scorchers labelled it ‘substandard’
Cricket fans have blasted the condition of Marvel Stadium for the Big Bash match between the Perth Scorchers and the Melbourne Renegades, labelling the wicket ‘a goat track’.
The Renegades squeezed out a two-wicket win over Scorchers on Monday night to end a six-match losing streak to the West Australian team.
Chasing the Scorchers 8-143, the Renegades were well placed at 3-96 in the tenth over but lost 5-44.
Captain Will Sutherland scored the winning runs with one over to go.
Social media fired up over a patchy looking outfield which looked well below its best following a university graduation ceremony last week attended by tens of thousands of people, plus several recent concerts from Pearl Jam and Coldplay among others.
One X user posted: ‘Did someone break into Marvel Stadium and spray poison all over the grass? It looks like a goat track, how embarrassing.’
Cricket fans have taken aim at the condition of Marvel Stadium for the Big Bash match between the Perth Scorchers and the Melbourne Renegades
Another replied: ‘There are high school ovals in better condition.
A third wrote: ‘For professional cricket…this is worse than some local grounds! I’ve never seen an Aussie ground in as bad condition.’
Scorchers coach Adam Voges labelled the pitch ‘substandard’ after the match.
‘Maybe the wicket dries out a bit, the roller goes on it, but clearly the wicket played differently in the second innings to what it did in the first,’ Voges said.
‘It’s a shame the bat flip had such an influence in the game but clearly it did in this fixture.
‘I am not making excuses for the result but it was clearly a good bat flip to win.
‘Clearly the outfield is substandard, the aesthetics of it is poor. I will have to check with the players as to how they felt running around on it.
‘We rocked up and saw that … it is what it is, but when you combine that with the wicket, it’s been a tough night.’
Renegades player Tom Rogers said the surface wasn’t as bad as it seemed
However, Renegades players have defended the Marvel Stadium surface, insisting it wasn’t as bad as it looked.
‘You look at the outfield and you think its going to be pretty uneven but its been pretty similar looking the last few years,’ Renegades paceman and player of the match Tom Rogers, who took 3-22, told Fox Cricket.
‘Actually under foot and moving around on it as a player, it’s pretty solid, you don’t notice much difference.’
‘It’s a lot better than it looks to be honest, there’s no nasty ones we are getting in the face so we’re grateful for that,’ Sutherland told Seven.
