Watch: Australian Batsmen Take Painful Blows As MCG Pitch Causes Havoc In Sheffield Shield Match

The first day’s play at the MCG was abandoned after a series of deliveries reared up at WA’s batsmen. More: https://t.co/XHdEA1N9rS#SheffieldShield pic.twitter.com/4cvTv49LCP

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 7, 2019

The umpires, Peter Handscomb and Shaun Marsh, captains of their respective teams, held a lengthy conversation on the field, following which the decision was made to call off the day’s play.

Shaun Marsh was himself hit on the body multiple times as balls rose sharply from good-length areas.

The final straw for the players and umpires came when Marcus Stoinis was took a painful blow in the ribs from a Andrew Fekete delivery.

Cricket Australia said it would work closely with MCG staff to ensure the best possible track is prepared for Boxing Day.

“We’re very disappointed at today’s play being abandoned,” said CA’s head of cricket operations Peter Roach, while noting that two previous Shield matches had been played at the MCG this season without incident.

“MCG groundstaff have more than two weeks to ensure the Test surface, which is a different pitch strip to the one being used in this match, is of international standard.

“We will seek to better understand the issues that resulted in variable bounce at the MCG on Saturday.”

“The safety of our players is always our highest priority,” Roach said. “The decision to suspend play and roll the wicket in an effort to address the variable bounce was the correct one and I applaud umpires Gillespie and Joshua for the decisive action taken.”

(With AFP inputs)