The drop-in pitches for the Test match and one-day games here next month against Bangladesh will be lowered in place later this week, the Australian Cricket Board said today.Melbourne cricket ground head groundsman Tony Ware is here supervising work on the Marrara Oval ground, which will stage the first-ever July 18-22 Test match against the Bangladeshis.Ware, who is the leading turf and drop-in wicket expert in Australia, began the first major works on the playing surface today with the removal of top soil to accommodate the Test match and one-day international wicket.An additional area adjacent to the international strip will also be removed for the installation of the tour wicket to be used during the Bangladesh Chief Minister’s XI match from July 10-13.Ware said the first phase of the project was due for completion by Thursday. “Barring any unforeseen events, we should be ready to move the wickets in on Thursday, and hopefully have the rollers out sometime Friday afternoon,” Ware said in an ACB statement.“Both pitches are in really good shape at the moment. We’ve kept them under tropical conditions at a local nursery and they’re expected to be well-matured in time for the matches.”Ware will create history when the drop-in wickets are installed on Thursday, using his pioneering portable pitch technology for the first time in Australia. Each wicket will be divided in half and merged together using a sophisticated ratchet mechanism once in the ground. Ware, who has spent the last four years developing the landmark technology, hoped it would create further opportunities for the game in Australia’s top end.“This technology allows us to take advantage of a fantastic climate and really opens up additional opportunities for international and domestic cricket to be played in northern Australia,” he said. “Once this series is finished, we’ll move the wickets back into the compound at Marrara and keep it maintained for possible further use down the track. “The other main advantage is that we don’t heavily impact on grounds like Marrara, which have other usages. We can move the pitch in and out without disrupting the facility for football games.” Bangladesh will play Australia in a second Test in Cairns, northern Queensland from July 25-29 before three one-day matches.
