CRICKET

By LIAM DURKIN

HOW club cricket could you get – getting done reverse outright on Day 2.

Local cricket fans were left disappointed following this year’s Boxing Day Test farce.

The match, sure to go down in infamy, saw 36 wickets fall in just two days on a spicy MCG pitch covered in 10 millimetres of grass.

While England fought back from a first innings deficit to claim its first Ashes win on Australian soil in close to 15 years, the match will undoubtedly be remembered for the 22 yards, which continued to misbehave considerably once the effects of the roller wore off.

International players may have briefly experienced what it’s like playing local cricket on a second week deck the opposition has prepared needing to win to make finals.

More than 90,000 packed into the stadium for the first two days, but the early finish meant many locals missed out on play over the next three.

Former Trafalgar cricketer Liam White, who’d travelled home from Queensland to attend Day 3, was just one of many denied the opportunity, as was Latrobe Valley Racing Club Chairperson Frank Bezzina.

Latrobe Valley cricket tragic Mark Smith had tickets to all five days, and suddenly found an extra few days in his schedule.

Even the English themselves may have been counting it as a hollow victory.

Express journalist Liam Durkin attended an Australian Cricket Society function after Day 2, where the Man of the Match medal won by England fast bowler Josh Tongue was simply left unattended.

Not knowing whether or not it was loaned for the occasion, one would still imagine a medal of that significance would be armed with some security.

At the function, former Australian quick Jason Gillespie described what happened as a “nonsense Test”.

To his credit, veteran MCG head curator Matt Page fronted the media on Day 3, saying even he was shocked at how much seam movement there was.

Some Australian batsmen were seen laughing wryly after being dismissed, such was the nature of the wicket.

A degree of sympathy was perhaps felt for Page and his team, especially from those involved in local horseracing and at golf clubs, who know all too well how difficult it can be working in horticulture amid unpredictable Victorian weather.

Cricket Australia stands to lose upwards of $10 million over the lost days, while the situation could also have ramifications at grassroots level.

Community cricket is clearly struggling, with players well into their 50s still playing A Grade on Saturdays across Gippsland.

With the Ashes only lasting a total of 13 days so far, it is hardly going to capture the imagination of younger audiences.