Unsafe pitch causes sudden abandonment of Cup match

Predictions that Western Australia and Queensland would produce a contest living up to all of the expectations that come with a Mercantile Mutual Cup Final rematch had been made confidently in the days leading up to today's meeting between the teams in Perth. Reality often defies prediction, however, and it most certainly did today.

Following a mere five overs, this 'match' was finished. Not because of some imbalance between the teams, not because of any poor weather prevailing at the time, not because of the legacy of any rain either. Instead, the unsafe nature of the pitch at the WACA ground was the cause for a bizarre early abandonment that left players, officials and spectators in a similarly muted state of disbelief.

In itself, there was nothing necessarily unusual about the Queenslanders' rate of progress toward a score of 1/20 through those five overs. Such an impression had rather ignored, though, the tendency of deliveries even during that period to vary significantly in bounce.

Visiting captain Stuart Law had won the toss and decided to bat but, by as early as the three over mark, fears were already being aired about the welfare of his batsmen. It was at that point that rival skipper Tom Moody voiced his concern to Umpires Keith Rinaldi and Randolph Woolridge who, in turn, informed him that Match Referee Ric Evans had already been summoned to make his way to the middle. Moody had already seen the fifth ball of paceman Steve Nikitaras' first over all but roll along the ground from the River End, amid a brief spell in which other deliveries had done the very opposite in lifting alarmingly from just short of a good length.

Play continued beyond the dismissal of Matthew Hayden (6), to a mistimed pull, in the fourth over and the advent of a nasty cracking blow to the ribs worn by opener Jimmy Maher (6*) as a Nikitaras delivery reared. But, once the fifth over was at its end, so, effectively, was any chance of further such damage. Following a long discussion between Evans, the two umpires and the players, all of them departed the arena, with the small crowd left to recoil in something of a state of shock at the drama. A form of drama, it must be noted, that is unprecedented in Australian cricket given that an interstate one-day match, once underway, has never previously been abandoned because of an unsafe pitch.

The surface used for today's game was also the one utilised for the recent four-day encounter between Western Australia and West Indies. Over the closing stages of that match, there had been some evidence of deliveries keeping lower than expected and the manifestation of the occasional crack. But nothing to suggest that it would prompt scenes like these.

"We played the four day game against the West Indies on that wicket and it played very well. It was a quick, traditional sort of WACA wicket," said Moody.

"For the last twelve months we have used wickets for one-day matches shortly after four-day games and we've had some big scores."

In a masterful piece of understatement, the Western Australian skipper also added that this particular pitch "unfortunately didn't come up as we would like".

Law was also quick to distance himself from any outright criticism of the way in which the pitch had been prepared, but stated that he had been similarly concerned about the well-being of the players.

"I've never seen a WACA wicket behave like that," said the bemused Bulls captain.

It is possible that the game will be rescheduled to a date later in the season but, in view of the expansion in the domestic programme that has already been facilitated this year, no logical spot for its re-inclusion exists at this stage. Both states are expected to push for the match to be replayed but this would ultimately require the approval of the Australian Cricket Board (ACB).

For its part, the ACB has reacted tonight by stating that competition points will not be assigned to either of the two sides at this stage. No decision about the match's eventual fate will be made until it receives a formal report from the Western Australian Cricket Association.