Cricket Australia will consider avoiding Marvel Stadium until later in the summer in future BBL seasons, as Melbourne Renegades great Aaron Finch called for the club to weigh up abandoning the venue for Geelong.
Finch was among those to be scathing of the venue on Tuesday when the Renegades' Monday-night win over Perth Scorchers was overshadowed by a patchy-looking outfield. The pitch also proved difficult to bat on after the roof was closed for two days due to wet weather, with Scorchers struggling to score early.
The issue came just two days after similar issues at Sydney's Engie Stadium where large parts of dirt didn't have any grass covering during the Sydney Smash.
Both grounds are multi-purpose venues with Pearl Jam concerts having headlined a raft of events to have fallen between the AFL and BBL seasons. An annual RMIT university graduation was also held at Marvel Stadium last Wednesday, before Monday's match.
"Marvel was shocking last night. I was out on the ground and it was slippery," former Renegades and Australia white-ball captain Aaron Finch said on ESPN's Around The Wicket. "There has to be questions, are Marvel Stadium serious about hosting cricket.
"Because each and every year the first couple of games the same thing happens there. If they're not interested in hosting cricket, take it somewhere else. Take it to Geelong, they'll have it."
BBL boss Alistair Dobson also admitted on Tuesday he was "disappointed", conceding the ground was "presented poorly".
"By and large they present good outfields and good wickets, particularly as we get further into the season," Dobson said on SEN. "That [multi-purpose aspect] does come with some trade offs, but we don't expect it to be the size of the trade off we saw last night."
Dobson said his organisation was open to not scheduling BBL games at Marvel Stadium until close to January in the future, if it would ensure a better surface. But in reality that would cause more issues with the MCG also offline in the lead up to and during the Boxing Day Test.
"Last night would certainly give us cause to reflect on that and whether we schedule in a different way going forward," Dobson said. "The trade off on that though is you end up with a lot of games of BBL in a short period. It's a balance between the best possible preparation and spacing games out to give fans a chance to go."
The other concern for CA is the way the poor outfields showcase the BBL overseas, in a summer where crowds and TV ratings are up by 30 percent domestically.
AAP has been told Finch's proposed full-time Geelong move is unlikely, given officials believe Melbourne needs two teams to service it both on and off the field.
Dobson also rejected any suggestion the Renegades should abandon Marvel Stadium and join Melbourne Stars at the MCG.
"We have two clubs in Melbourne that have different identities and different fan bases and different history," Dobson said. "The Melbourne Stars are iconic to the MCG and the Renegades are keen to have a point of difference on that."