Although he acknowledged the enormous logistical constraints of holding a World Cup, Aaron Finch has wondered if eliminating double-header match days at a single location might be a desirable alternative to prevent rain scuttling consecutive games as happened in Melbourne.
At the MCG, the match between Australia and England was called off. This decision had seemed probable for much of the day because the outfield had already been declared unfit for the opening match between Ireland and Afghanistan. After the defeat of the New Zealand-Afghanistan match, there have been three abandoned game in Melbourne.
Finch: Due to practicalities, removing doubleheaders at a single site is “very difficult.”
While both Bangladesh’s match against Zimbabwe in Brisbane on Sunday and New Zealand’s match against Sri Lanka on Saturday were played in beautiful Sydney weather, the weather looks to play a role once more in the days to come.
Brisbane’s crucial match between Australia and Ireland is expected to be sunny with a slight probability of rain. However, the weather forecast for Tuesday, which is another double-header day with England playing New Zealand and Sri Lanka playing Afghanistan, calls for a 100 percent chance of rain and up to 35mm of snowfall. The weather in Adelaide, where the event will be next week, is predicted to be cold and showery, but the early signs for the game days are more positive.
It’s incredibly challenging to have reserve days for round games, in my opinion, given how crammed the calendar is, Finch remarked. Putting that… As we witnessed the other night, it’s kind of intriguing to have back-to-back games in the same location because if one is rained out, both are rained out, whereas if they’re in different cities, you might get one game on. Is that a benefit? I’m not sure.
“All I know is that the ICC puts a lot of thought and work into making these events happen, and it’s really challenging to manage all the logistics and other stuff as one nation, let alone handling it for…16 teams. That is a very difficult situation to be in.
The World Cup is being held early in the Australian season because prior World Cups there were held between the months of February and March. Another La Nina is also having an impact on the east and south-east of the nation, with Melbourne being particularly hard struck by record-breaking October rains.
The idea that Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium, the home field of the BBL’s Melbourne Renegades, could have served as a backup venue has been brought up because of the nearby existence of a ground with a roof. However, due to the logistics involved in moving games, this is practically impossible to do at short notice.
Finch, a player with the Renegades, remarked, “It’s not just as straightforward as viewing the prediction and moving a wicket over there.” “There is a lot more to it than just that. But for the past couple of Big Bash seasons, that wicket has been an absolute belter. I’m sure there are explanations for everything.”
India vs. Zimbabwe on the final day of the group stage on November 6 and the championship game on November 13 will be played in Melbourne. For the India game, which is anticipated to draw another large crowd after the 90,293 fans that watched the India-Pakistan game, more standing-room-only tickets have been made available. It is now the only game taking place outside that was finished without any rain.
