SCG curator Tom Parker steps down

The long-serving SCG curator Tom Parker will step down later this year, just a few months before Australia's home Ashes series.

Parker has spent 20 years in charge of the SCG pitch and turf, and will be joined in his exit by Allianz Stadium curator Michael Finch, with the SCG Trust planning to bring both the cricket and soccer venues together under one team of groundstaff.

"It's been a privilege to work at this magnificent ground," Parker said. "There are certainly some special moments that I'll look back on in coming years but the opportunity to call the SCG home for the past two decades is what I'm most proud of."

SCG Trust chairman Tony Shepherd said: "Tom has been a key figure in the ground's history and has played a huge part in its success over the years. On behalf of my fellow Trustees I would like to thank him, both professionally and personally, for the commitment he has shown to the SCG."

Despite Parker's achievements over the past two decades, he did face criticism in 2015, when a Sheffield Shield match at the SCG was abandoned due to what was deemed an unsafe outfield. After several players slipped over, the match officials decided to abandon the match, a decision that neither Parker nor the SCG Trust believed was necessary.