- Basil Zempilas flogged the MCG crowd on Boxing Day
- More than 62,000 fans attended the rain-affected opening day
- But Zempilas was aiming for turnout on Tuesday
A week after seeing his city agent lashed out for the poorly attended Perth Test, Basil Zempilas has launched a stunning attack on the MCG crowd for the Boxing Day Test.
Perth Mayor Zempilas has staunchly defended the state of Western Australia despite there being plenty of empty seats during the first test of the summer earlier this month.
And seeing plenty of empty spaces at the MCG on Tuesday, Zempilas took to X – formerly known as Twitter – to bash Melbourne fans.
'Hmmmm. What's their excuse? Not that you can go to the beach?'
The official attendance for the opening day of the Test was 62,167, which is the second highest attendance for the first day of a Test between Australia and Pakistan at the venue.
Basil Zempilas has enjoyed success during the Boxing Day Test visit to the MCG
He used Twitter to launch an attack on Melbourne fans on Boxing Day
It is also more than the total attendance in Perth, which was just over 59,000 over four days of action.
In that context, plus the level of opposition and the scorching weather in Melbourne in recent days, the official attendance figures don't look too shabby.
Fans quickly hit back at Zempilas after his rogue post.
“You'll probably get more on Day 1 with half-day rain forecasts than you'll get from the entire crowd over the four days of the Perth Test,” said one fan. “You're just embarrassing yourself right now.”
Another said: 'This is even worse than your comment Basilius, and that's saying something.'
“You should have gone to the beach instead of posting your tweet,” said a third fan.
Australia dodged the rain and survived some serious scares from Pakistan's improved bowling attack to crawl to stumps at 3-187 in the second Test on Boxing Day.
Despite losing almost three hours due to wild weather on Tuesday, the tourists managed to send 66 overs to Australia in front of 62,167 spectators at the MCG after Pakistan captain Shan Masood won the toss and elected to bowl first .
On a rain-affected day, more than 62,000 fans headed to the MCG on Tuesday
An alert Marnus Labuschange (44 not out off 120 balls) returns to the crease on Wednesday with Travis Head (9 not out), who hit a flying ball on the shoulder thanks to an accidental full toss from Pakistani quick Shaheen Afridi.
Play started on time on Tuesday with the sun shining brightly, but after lunch the sky quickly darkened and the players left the ground midway through the second session.
Spectators were warned via the scoreboards to prepare for severe weather and 'seek shelter in vulnerable areas' as the MCG lights came on in the early afternoon.
After being off the field for 170 minutes, the players returned for almost two hours as the game was extended for another 90 minutes beyond the scheduled stump time.