A furious former England skipper and cricket commentator Michael Vaughan has lashed out at the ICC and at Australia for not using a closed stadium in Melbourne as the venue for this year’s T20 World Cup tournament, which has seen numerous washouts this week.
Vaughan feels that Australia, being the hosts of the ongoing Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, should have had stadiums with roof covers as venues for the games, which are taking place in the rainy season.
Multiple matches have been affected by rains making it difficult for teams to aim big. The most badly affected team has however been Afghanistan whose match against New Zealand was abandoned on Wednesday due to rain.
The same happened on Friday with the match against Ireland.
In both instances, not a single ball was bowled.
Other matches affected were England’s game against Ireland, which saw the latter winning with the DLS method. The much awaited England vs Australia clash was also abandoned while South Africa’s game against Zimbabwe was halted by rain
Vaughan meanwhile believes instead of organizing matches at the MCG in Melbourne, they could have been scheduled at the stadiums that have roof covers.
Taking to his Twitter, he wrote: “Rainy season in Australia .. Stadium in Melbourne with roof on .. !!!!! Wouldn’t it have been sensible to use it ???”
Vaughan was very critical while commenting upon the situation, and he went on to say:
“Can I also ask why in Sri Lanka where they get huge thunderstorms they cover all the ground & get play back on quickly … Why hasn’t the MCG been totally covered for the last 2 days ?????”
However, another Melbourne stadium could have been used, say commentators.
The Marvel Stadium has a roof and had matches been moved there, plenty of cricket could have been played.
Commenting on the water-logged MCG stadium, Australian captain Aaron Finch said: “The outfield has taken a drenching over the last couple of weeks, that’s as wet as I’ve ever seen it.”
“The run-ups and around the circle were very, very wet … it just comes down to what is safe to play in. If you’re trying to run out there and stop, it’s going to be a real issue.
“It’s disappointing not to get on but the amount of rain Melbourne and the east coast of Australia has had is just amazing.”
Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott meanwhile also noted that Melbourne’s second cricket ground Marvel Stadium would have allowed for uninterrupted play.
“The frustrating thing as well is there’s a stadium down the road that’s got a roof on it as well so you can play cricket there,” Trott said.
“So we could have had lots of cricket. But this is the way it is. It’s what makes tournaments unpredictable.
“It makes tournaments exciting with regard to the matches coming up, must-win games. Hopefully, we can be part of it in the mix and looking forward to it.”
