SCG Trust chairman Tony Shepherd is adamant the Sydney Test have to be performed in its New Years timeslot regardless of climate considerations however can be open to re-imagining it as a day-night match to fight unhealthy gentle stoppages.
Six of the final seven SCG Tests have been interrupted by rain and showers have affected the primary 4 days of the present Test towards South Africa with no play in any respect on Friday.
That has prompted renewed calls to shift the SCG Test to a timeslot much less prone to be affected by rain.
Last summer time, Shane Warne steered Sydney may change Tests with Brisbane in order to host the primary match of the season in early December.
But Shepherd stated the SCG wouldn’t give up its New Years timeslot, regardless of conceding the La Nina climate sample of the previous two years had introduced the bottom’s unhealthy run of climate into sharper focus.
“This is the tradition. We’ve just got to live with the climate,” he stated on SEN on Saturday.
“We do get a bit of rain here and sometimes it does disrupt play but we’ve just got to get through that.
“It’ll be a great season subsequent yr as a result of I feel we’ll get El Nino (climate sample) subsequent yr, which can imply we’ll be in the course of a drought.”
After bad light forced two stoppages in play on day one against South Africa, Shepherd met with Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley.
While Hockley previously said he was hopeful updates to the SCG’s floodlights would prevent similar delays in future, Shepherd suggested Sydney could follow Adelaide’s lead and host a day-night Test with a pink ball.
The pink ball’s brighter colour makes it more visible than the traditional red ball and allows play to continue into darkness under lights.
“We may do a day-nighter or we may simply use a pink ball the entire sport,” Shepherd stated.
“The various can be if you happen to had that form of gentle concern in direction of the top of the day, simply have a bag of pink balls there and substitute them.”
At stumps on day one, Australian batter Marnus Labuschagne pushed back against the idea of substituting the red ball out for a pink one as the balls do not react in the same way when bowled.
But Shepherd said the fans needed to be considered.
“In my view, cricket and all elite sports activities survive on followers,” he stated.
“The present should go on. We ought to do all the things in our energy to verify we do not have that (stoppages) occur once more.”
