(left) A newspaper clipping of The Age, which predicts the harsh weather forecast in Melbourne; (right) Fans queued up to enter the MCG on Day 1. (Special Arrangement)
For the last three days, the newspapers, TV, and radio in Melbourne have been crackling with palpable concern about this day, the opening day of the Boxing-day Test. Cricket isn’t the main worry; fires in the bushland around the city are, but cricket too features as 90,000 people are expected to be packed under a hot burning sun.
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That raises the question: can the umpires intervene if it gets too hot? The umpires will keep checking the heat levels. If it gets too hot, they can even stop play. Some of you might remember England’s Joe Root had to be taken to hospital during the 2018 Ashes in Sydney when temperatures reached 47.3 Celsius. Ricky Ponting was then quoted: “Australia great Ricky Ponting, a member of the committee, said: “He probably had a viral thing too, but having one or two players go down seriously ill like that is a dangerous precedent just to ignore. “I played in a game in Sharjah where it was 55 degrees air temperature and it did get dangerous.”
Is it in the provisions of the cricketing laws?
The existing law 2.7.1 empowers the umpires to suspend play if conditions are unreasonable or dangerous.
How will they measure the discomfort level?
Cricket Australia already has extreme heat guidelines in place, which uses the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature index to measure the discomfort level based on weather conditions.
What is the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature Index?
WBGT is an experimental forecast tool indicating expected heat stress on the human body when in direct sunlight. It estimates the effect of temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and solar radiation on humans using a combination of temperatures from three thermometers:
🔴A Wet bulb measures the temperature read by a thermometer covered in a wet cloth. As water evaporates from the cloth, evaporation cools the thermometer. This mirrors how the human body cools itself with sweat.
🔴A black globe is used to measure solar radiation. Solar radiation heats the globe and wind blowing across it cools the globe.
🔴A Dry bulb calculates the air temperature measured in the shade. It is the temperature you would see on your thermometer outside.
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