Cricket Australia is advising fans to prepare themselves for hot weather at the MCG on Boxing Day, as the Bureau of Meteorology forecasts the temperature reaching 40C in Melbourne on the first day of the fourth Border-Gavaskar Test.
CA’s chief of cricket James Allsopp said the forecasts had been changing, but that “it is looking hot” and his organisation would ensure appropriate messaging is used in the coming days.
“The big thing is just making sure we encourage everyone to take proper precautions,” he said, advising spectators to use sun screen, bring hats, and drink enough water.
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“For the players, they’ll probably be additional drinks breaks if it’s going to be the temperatures they’re expecting.”
Officials will calculate a heat stress risk index before play using the ambient air temperature, wind speed, relative humidity and a measure of the heat of the direct sun known as the black globe temperature.
Additional and extended drinks breaks can be implemented in response, and the game’s extreme heat policy provides that matches can even by suspended in extreme cases.
Tennis Australia stops play when the wet bulb globe temperature – another measure of heat stress – reaches 32.5C, or the ambient air temperature exceeds 36C.
But officials allow cricket to continue in hotter conditions. The 2018 Ashes Test in Sydney took place – with additional drinks breaks – when the temperature soared above 43C.
The Bureau’s forecast for Melbourne updated on Friday is for a medium chance of showers, most likely later in the day, with winds northerly 20 to 30 km/h shifting south to southwesterly 15 to 25 km/h later in the day.
Allsopp said there’s a good chance fans and players won’t be exposed to extreme conditions. “Usually in Melbourne, the temperature gets a lot hotter later in the afternoon, so I anticipate the first and second session won’t get to that extreme, but obviously we want to make sure all our fans are looked after.”
The MCG’s record crowd for cricket is 93,013 at the 2015 World Cup Final, and 91,112 for a single day of Test cricket, for Boxing Day during the 2012-13 Ashes.
All general public tickets have been sold, meaning whether or not this year’s Boxing Day Test challenges those records will be up to the MCC members.
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“We genuinely feel like there could be a record on the crowd, there’ll certainly be a record for an India-Australia Boxing Day Test,” Allsopp said.
“The weather might have an impact in terms of how hot it does get, and how people feel about that, but we’re anticipating a monster crowd and the series is just so well set up.”
The five-Test series is level at one-all, with two Tests – in Melbourne and Sydney – still to play.
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