Cricket club livid over council ripping up turf pitch

The Mercantile Cricket Association has hit out at the City of Melbourne over its decision to replace Crawford Oval’s turf cricket pitch with astroturf.

The club's secretary, Alec Kahn, has labelled it an act of “civic vandalism” and criticised the council for failing to support the growth of cricket in the City of Melbourne, with the decision to renovate the oval displacing three cricket clubs.

"The council conveniently ignores the fact that cricket is a growing sport,” Mr Kahn told Inner City News. “Our competition has doubled in size over the past 15 years, due to the influx of South Asian IT workers into Docklands and Southbank who are passionate about the game.”

“At the same time, the council has reduced the number of turf pitches available to community cricket by 25 per cent. The grounds are now at capacity and in constant use all weekend,” he added.

The decision to replace the turf pitch is part of the council's plan to transform the oval into a multi-purpose sports field to cater for a wider range of sporting activities year-round. The upgrade is expected to be completed by 2026.

Lord Mayor Nick Reece admitted that, as a former competitive cricketer, he understood the importance of turf pitches. However, he believes there is a need to move away from turf to accommodate more sports.

“To allow more people to play, we’re adapting some sports fields to accommodate multiple codes, and this includes changes to playing surfaces in some cases,” Cr Reece said.

Because turf pitches are cordoned off for around half of the year, from late winter to prepare them for cricket season and during the entire cricket season to maintain their quality for matches – this limits the programming of other activities on the oval.

“It’s a tricky balancing act, but ultimately we need to prioritise making sports fields available to as many people as possible,” the Lord Mayor said.

“These changes mean people will be able to use the oval all year round, rather than just for part of the year, and that’s a better outcome overall.”

The council also highlighted its ambition for Crawford Oval to be more inclusive, with a focus on increasing the number of female cricket teams using the space.

“We are working with current users of Crawford Oval to determine allocations for the 2025–26 summer cricket season, in line with the Fair Access Sport and Recreation Allocation and Use Policy,” a City of Melbourne spokesperson said.

Cricket oval usage data shows nearly 2500 males play cricket weekly in summer, compared with just 250 females. Cricket in the City of Melbourne has the lowest female participation of all summer sports, at 9.2 per cent. •