The Big Bash encounter between the Melbourne Renegades and Perth Scorchers at GMHBA Stadium in Geelong has been brought to an early end thanks to an unsafe pitch.

Issues with the pitch kicked off before the first ball was even bounced when Renegades skipper Nic Maddinson blew up over water coming through the covers after winning the toss and electing to bowl.

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“The wicket’s absolutely drenched, Maddinson said.

Fox Cricket’s Michael Vaughan joked: “I’d like to know what Nic really thinks about the pitch.”

As the contest eventually got underway it was evident the issues with the pitch were causing drama as both batsmen and fielders showed concern.

Josh Inglis, who only faced seven balls, threw his arms up after the fifth ball of the sixth over ballooned through to the keeper and could be heard in the effects mic on Fox Cricket repeating: “This is a joke”.

The umpires came together and brought the contest to a halt as a pitch inspection was undertaken.

After a lengthy delay it was ultimately decided that the contest would be abandoned. It is the first time in competition history a match has ended due to a dangerous pitch.

Renegades bowler Will Sutherland joked he would be eager to continue bowling but said he understood the Scorchers’ concerns as the prospect of facing speedster Jhye Richardson on the pitch later in the evening worried the Renegades.

“It’s potentially a bit unsafe, so we’ll see what happens. When you hit the seam, it was just sitting in the wicket and popping,” Sutherland told Fox Cricket.

“I’m happy to keep bowling another few overs and then we can call it off, but yeah I probably wouldn’t want to be batting on this wicket.

“I wouldn’t want to be facing Jhye on this wicket, that’s for sure.

“Josh Inglis was throwing his hands around, with that body language there he wasn’t too happy, so understandably he probably felt a bit unsafe.”

Vaughan took aim at the lack of preparation being undertaken by groundstaff who would have known the rain was coming through on Saturday.

“I get frustrated with cricket. It has a habit of these scenarios,” he said on Fox Cricket.

“I’m pretty sure they knew it was going to rain all day yesterday, can’t you get extra covers in? I saw it in a Test match in the UK at Old Trafford, I saw it last year at the SCG when their wasn’t enough covering ... too much time taken out of the game.

“We always just think ‘oh it’s unfortunate’, but seriously you can’t get enough covers to cover an area of turf and get more covers in to make sure today’s game goes ahead.

“I just find sometimes in cricket we make too many excuses for things that should not happen. That shouldn’t be the case that a game gets abandoned because water got on the pitch.”

Fans watching on blasted the league and the Geelong stadium for preparing what was a nightmare of a wicket.

Ryan Buckland wrote: “they’re going to call this off before long”.

Matt Nicholls wrote: “Call the f***ing game off this is a joke pitch”.

Umpires Simon Lightbody and Ben Treloar told Fox Cricket the surface had appeared playable until Sutherland’s balls in the seventh over raised alarm bells.

“No concerns when we started, we wanted to give it every chance, so that’s why we obviously started play out there,” Treloar said.

“It looked alright on top, and the first few overs we were really quite hopeful with what we saw, but just at the end, that last (ball), that was enough for us to consider that being dangerous.

“It was that last delivery, that was the one that got us to that dangerous position … the safety of the (players) is paramount.”

Treloar confirmed the teams would share the points with “no result” recorded.

Cricket Australia issued a statement shortly after the match was abandoned saying a review will be undertaken.

“The pitch at GMHBA Stadium was rain-affected in the days prior to the game. Ground staff worked throughout the day to rectify the situation and umpires considered the pitch safe for play to start,” the statement read.

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“However in the seventh over umpires abandoned the game, deeming there was foreseeable risk to the safety of the players.

“Each team will receive one point unless the game can be rescheduled. Fans will be refunded the cost of their tickets.

“CA will conduct a thorough review into the extremely frustrating circumstances that have resulted in the game being abandoned and a huge disappointment for fans and players.”

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