Internet Desk: The feud between Dennis Lillee and the Western Australian Cricket Association is escalating after the cricket great savaged the Optus Stadium pitch, claiming “someone could have been killed” on the wicket used for the second Test.
Lillee, a fierce critic of West Australian cricket’s decision to move the Perth Test from the WACA to the new stadium, said authorities must improve the quality of the deck or risk serious consequences.
Unlike the current MCG surface, the pitch in Perth offered plenty of assistance to the bowlers while there was also variable bounce with several deliveries rising sharply.
Virat Kohli, Marcus Harris, Aaron Finch, Nathan Lyon and Umesh Yadav were among the players struck while batting, though none were seriously hurt.
The International Cricket Council rated the pitch as “average”, the lowest pass mark, though former Test stars Mitchell Johnson and Michael Vaughan were critical of the assessment.
National coach Justin Langer also gave a ringing endorsement of the strip, saying “anyone who says there’s anything wrong with that wicket … must have been watching a different game”.
Lillee, however, is at odds with those appraisals.
“They want to improve very quickly the wicket they served up,” Lillee said on Channel Seven.
“Variable bounce like that, if you’re playing for your game, as four guys were in that match, I don’t think
I’d like to play on a wicket like that that’s up and down.
“If you look at it, really analyse it, someone could have been killed on that pitch because it was very much some were taking off, the odd one was keeping low. The odd one that just took off a length, I don’t think that’s good for cricket.”
While Lillee says Optus Stadium, the home ground for West Coast and Fremantle, is a “great football arena” he is “not sure how great [it is] as a cricket arena”.
The WACA declined to comment.
It might be close to two years away, but the publicity campaign for the 2020 T20 World Cup is getting into swing ahead of ticket sales opening next month.