It takes a mighty effort to transform the Melbourne Cricket Ground from cricket to footy season.
With just a 10-day turnaround from the ICC Women’s World Cup Final to the opening round of the 2020 AFL season, the arena staff at the MCG had an enormous task ahead of them.
Of all the activities undertaken, the most significant and challenging is the replacement of the centre square where the cricket wickets sit in summer. Executive Manager of Turf for the Melbourne Cricket Club, Michael Salvatore, explains the process of filling the gap left by the wicket ahead of the footy season.
“Once the wickets were taken out, we’ve got a big hole in the middle of the ground so we have to get that ready for the turf to be laid,” Mr Salvatore said.
“We achieve this by basically trucking in a lot of sand, compacting it and then laser-levelling it off.” After the ground has been levelled, the turf is laid over the square so it becomes uniform with the rest of the ground.
Hamish and Ross Sutherland from HG Turf Group, MCG turf suppliers, described the specialty turf used for the MCG. “After the redevelopment of the MCG with the Great Northern Stand being built, we found that extra shade on the field put more pressure on the turf,” Mr Hamish Sutherland said.
“So we developed a new technology over the ensuring five to ten years with a more open backing called Hero Hybrid Grass, and that’s the product we use today.” Follow the journey of the turf from its cultivation farm in regional Victoria to the middle of the MCG.
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