Heavy rain on the day preceding the game had left the pitch damp, with fears over the safety of the surface growing as the match progressed. The fifth ball of the seventh over, bowled by Will Sutherland, bounced significantly: it leapt from a full length, and wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock, after gathering the ball high in the air, covered his face in shock.

The umpires conferred and decided to suspend play.

Former Australia captain Aaron Finch, playing in the game for Melbourne Renegades, admitted that the ball had been taking “divots” out of the surface. “It’s just bouncing ridiculously,” he said. “If that’s on line at someone’s body or their head then there could be real issues.”

Melbourne Renegades captain Nic Maddison concurred that it was “probably not” safe to play.

“In our minds we thought it behaved dangerously,” said umpire Ben Treloar, though he defended the decision to start the game: “When we initially started, we saw the pitch, we had a good look at it, but until you start playing on it, sometimes these things don’t present themselves. After the first few overs, we were quite hopeful that it was going OK, but then it just started to go south and then that last one was enough for us to think it was dangerous.”

Australian cricket has been hit hard by the weather in the past week, with Brisbane Heat’s BBL fixture against Adelaide Strikers also washed out. No play was possible on the final day of Pakistan’s Test warm-up against a Prime Minister’s XI due to overnight rain.

Watch the delivery that prompted the umpires to suspend play:

🗣️ “Is it safe?”
🗣️ “Probably not.”

The game has been delayed due to the condition of the pitch, with this ball being the last straw…#BBL13 pic.twitter.com/WV6zDRMsnH

— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) December 10, 2023