"Frustrated With Cricket" - Michael Vaughan On BBL Match Getting Abandoned Due To Unsafe Pitch

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan remained witness to a rare sight in T20 cricket on Sunday. The BBL 2023-24 match between Melbourne Renegades and Perth Scorchers was abandoned due to unsafe pitch.

Only 6.5 overs of play was possible after Melbourne Renegades won the toss and opted to bowl. The pitch reportedly behaved “uncharacteristically and dangerously” after there was a lot of rain in Geelong and water leaked through the covers onto the pitch, causing uneven bounce and dangerous conditions for batsmen.

?️ "Is it safe?"
?️ "Probably not."

The game has been delayed due to the condition of the pitch, with this ball being the last straw…#BBL13 pic.twitter.com/WV6zDRMsnH

— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) December 10, 2023

Adam Gilchrist and Michael Vaughan both were commentating for Fox Sports when the match was called off. Both shared their thoughts after the two teams shared a point each.

“The moment we got to the ground we were all a bit suspicious. There is talk how much do you talk about and do you try to ignore it and let the show carry on because of all the contributing factors, the fans, the kids who are here, us as broadcasters and the players. But it was very, very obvious and then Nic Maddinson said it at the toss.

“We heard him say, the wicket is drenched and that’s why I am going to bowl. I want to know what this is going to do to have any idea how to plan and play this game” Gilchrist said.

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Michael Vaughan though had a different take on this than his fellow Australian teammate. he put it down to being a logistical problem and said that the game of cricket overall has had unique ways of finding out that the game has problems that need to be addressed positively.

I Just Get Frustrated With Cricket: Michael Vaughan

“I just get frustrated with cricket. Cricket has a habit of these scenarios. I’m pretty sure they knew it was going to rain all day yesterday, can’t you get extra covers in? I saw it in a Test match in the UK at Old Trafford, I saw it last year at the SCG when there wasn’t enough covering … too much time taken out of the game.

“We always just think ‘oh it’s unfortunate’, but seriously you can’t get enough covers to cover an area of turf and get more covers in to make sure today’s game goes ahead. I just find sometimes in cricket we make too many excuses for things that should not happen. That shouldn’t be the case that a game gets abandoned because water got on the pitch,” said Vaughan as he highlighted an interesting aspect of the game that remains untouched.

The two teams remain in the middle of the points table after the abandoned game on Sunday. Brisbane Heat and Sydney Sixers are the top two teams at the moment.

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