Crowd trouble jeopardising MCG as cricket venue

Australian cricket authorities may consider scrapping the Melbourne Cricket Ground as a venue for international one-day matches after repeated crowd trouble.

More than 250 people were evicted and 23 people arrested when spectators began throwing missiles onto the field during Friday night's match between Australia and New Zealand.

The MCG has been plagued by crowd problems in recent years and Australian Cricket Board chief executive James Sutherland said a new venue might have to be found if the trouble continued.

"The behaviour of a small minority is putting the future of one-day cricket at this ground at risk," Sutherland said.

Australian vice-captain Adam Gilchrist said the players would have little hesitation walking off in protest if the situation ever became dangerous.

"The ultimate thing we're concerned about is player safety, no matter where you are in the world," Gilchrist said.

"If a player's safety is jeopardised, you've got to look at stopping the game and getting them into a safe situation."

Mail Cricket Editor