MCG portable pitches say goodbye
Mar 09, 2011
The MCG is being converted from cricket to AFL mode this week, as ground staff prepare for the opening AFL home and away match between Richmond and Carlton on Thursday March 24.
With the last cricket match for 2010/11 concluding on Sunday March 6 when Victoria defeated South Australia in a Sheffield Shield match, the first of the 10 portable cricket pitches were removed on Tuesday night.
The 10 pitches will be lifted out of the ground and transported out of the MCG on heavy machinery, then driven along Brunton Avenue to their resting place in Yarra Park (near Punt Road Oval) where they will sit until October when the new cricket season commences.
Once the pitches are removed (the process takes 2-3 nights), the sightscreens are taken away and the layer of sand in the centre square turf will be taken away. Then comes new drainage cells and new turf to be brought in and laid in the centre square.
Finally, the goal posts, interchange benches and line markings will take place and the MCG will look in magnificent condition for the Tigers-Blues clash to kick off the 2011 AFL home and away season.
View the portable pitch video
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