- Surface of Marvel Stadium has been criticized by fans
- Stadium has recently hosted several concerts
- Perth Scorchers coach labeled it ‘substandard’
Cricket fans have blasted the condition of Marvel Stadium for the Big Bash match between the Perth Scorchers and the Melbourne Renegades, calling the wicket ‘a goat track’.
The Renegades secured a two-wicket win over Scorchers on Monday night, ending a six-match losing streak against the Western 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 points with one to go.
Social media went ablaze over a patchy-looking outfield that looked well below its best form after a college graduation ceremony attended by tens of thousands of people last week, plus several recent concerts from the likes of Pearl Jam and Coldplay.
One X user wrote: “Did someone break into Marvel Stadium and spray poison on the grass? It looks like a goat track, how embarrassing.’
Cricket fans have taken aim at the condition of Marvel Stadium ahead of 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 have never seen an Aussie ground in such poor condition.”
Scorchers coach Adam Voges labeled the pitch as ‘substandard’ after the match.
“Maybe the wicket dries out a bit, the roller goes on, but the wicket obviously played differently in the second innings than in the first,” Voges said.
‘It’s a shame that the bat flip had such an impact on the game, but that was clearly the case in this game.
“I’m not making any excuses for the result, but it was clearly a good bat flip to win.
‘The outfield is clearly substandard, the aesthetics of it are poor. I’ll have to ask the players how they felt about running around on it.
‘We got 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 looked
However, Renegades players have defended the Marvel Stadium surface, claiming it was not as bad as it seemed.
“You look at the outfield and you think it’s going to be quite uneven, but it’s looked quite the same over the last few years,” Renegades paceman and player of the match Tom Rogers, who won 3-22, told Fox Cricket .
“Actually underfoot and as a player moving on it, it’s quite firm, you don’t notice much difference.”
“It’s a lot better than it looks to be honest, there’s no bad things that we’re seeing so we’re grateful for that,” Sutherland told Seven.