The first day of the Boxing Day Test between Australia and India could see record heat, potentially leading to extra drink breaks and forcing Cricket Australia to issue an advisory for fans.
According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, temperatures in Melbourne could reach 40 degrees Celsius on the first day of the fourth Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test.
Met Bureau senior meteorologist Angus Hines said it could set a ‘new weather record’. “A very hot Boxing Day for large parts of the country,” Hines told Fox News. “Melbourne Boxing Day could be the warmest day for the first day of a Test that we have seen on record.”
The Australian Guardian quoted Cricket Australia chief James Alsop as saying, “The organization will ensure appropriate messaging is used in the coming days”.
“The big thing is to make sure that we encourage everyone to take the proper precautions,” he said. Allsopp added that spectators are ‘advised to use sunscreen, bring a hat and drink plenty of water.’
“For the players, they will probably have extra drink breaks if it’s going to be the temperature they expect,” he added.
The daily reported that match officials ‘will calculate the Heat Stress Risk Index before using measurements of ambient air temperature, wind speed, relative humidity and direct solar heat known as the dark globe temperature.’
The Australian Open is stopped when the ambient air temperature rises above 36 degrees, but the same rule is not applied in cricket. The 2018 Ashes Test in Sydney continued – with an extra drinks break – when the temperature exceeded 43 degrees Celsius.
All spectator tickets for the fourth Test were snapped up by fans, so that – if all members turn up – the match could see a record crowd. The current crowd record for cricket at the MCG is 93,013 for the 2015 World Cup final. For one day of Test cricket it stands at 91,112 on Boxing Day during the 2012–13 Ashes.
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