'No result' in Gabba Big Bash League match to stand
Power outage not in officials' control, says Cricket Australia, dismisses Sydney Thunder's appeal for maximum points
Alex Malcolm
22-Jan-2019
A power outage forced the Heat v Thunder game at the Gabba to be declared a no-result • Getty Images
Cricket Australia has knocked back Sydney Thunder's appeal for maximum points in the Big Bash League match against Brisbane Heat at the Gabba that was declared a no-result following a major power outage.
Thunder lodged a formal protest against the no result handed down last Thursday, a day after being in complete command of the match that was called off because of the power outage.
The Heat had slipped to 2 for 10 in pursuit of the Thunder's strong tally of 186 when the power outage severely reduced the lighting at the venue, though not eliminating it entirely. The umpires conferred with the two teams before deciding that the game would be called off, despite the Thunder's offer to bowl out their remaining overs with spinners only.
CA conducted a review into the match and released a statement on Tuesday saying, "It has been determined that the BBL Playing Conditions 2018-19 were correctly applied by the match officials and the correct result awarded. The result of the match will stand, with the Brisbane Heat and Sydney Thunder each being awarded one competition point."
Kim McConnie, the head of the BBLs, said the situation was not in Cricket Australia's control and that the match officials had followed the correct process under the circumstances.
"The BBL match on Thursday 17 January was unable to be completed due to an external power issue that was outside the control of Cricket Australia, the Brisbane Heat, and the Gabba," she said.
"The umpires on the night applied the correct Playing Conditions in determining the conditions at the match to be both dangerous and unreasonable due to insufficient light.
"The safety of players and officials is of paramount importance to Cricket Australia and any Playing Condition relating to the safety of our players is one that is treated very seriously by our match officials. The match officials are ultimately responsible for the safety of our players and officials whilst on the field of play and we entrust them to make decisions with this in mind."
Alex Malcolm is a freelance writer based in Melbourne