Boxing Day Test: Additional water breaks, heat stress measures likely as Melbourne braces for record heat for fourth India-Australia Test

The met bureau’s senior meteorologist Angus Hines said it could reach a ‘new weather record’. “A very hot Boxing Day for large parts of the country,” Hines told Fox News. “Melbourne could be the warmest day for the first day of the Boxing Day test that we’ve seen on record.”

The Australian Guardian quoted Cricket Australia chief James Allsopp as saying that the ‘organisation would ensure appropriate messaging is used in the coming days’.

“The big thing is just making sure we encourage everyone to take proper precautions,” he was quoted as saying. Allsopp added that spectators will be advised ‘to use sunscreen, bring hats and drink enough water.’

“For the players, they’ll probably be additional drinks breaks if it’s going to be the temperatures they’re expecting,” he further said.

The daily reported that match officials will calculate ‘a heat stress risk index before play using the ambient air temperature, wind speed, relative humidity and a measure of the heat of the direct sun known as the black globe temperature.’

While the Australian Open halts play when the ambient air temperature goes above 36 degrees, the same rules haven’t been applied in cricket. The 2018 Ashes Test in Sydney continued – with additional drinks breaks – when temperature exceeded 43 degree celsius.

All spectator tickets for the fourth Test were snapped up by the fans, leading to the buzz that — if all members turn up — the match could witness record crowds. The current crowd record for cricket at the MCG is 93,013 at the 2015 World Cup Final. For a single day of Test cricket it stands at 91,112, during Boxing Day during the 2012-13 Ashes.