Adam Zampa call in BBL sparks angry backlash from Aussie cricket fans: 'What a joke'

The Melbourne Renegades' decision to rest Adam Zampa ahead of their clash with the Perth Scorchers prompted swift backlash from disgruntled fans. Zampa returned home from a successful World Cup campaign with Australia in India, having also stayed around for the T20 series that took place a few days after.

There is no doubt Zampa has earned some time off having played all the games in the World Cup and been away for a few months from home. However, fans who were eager to see Australia's best white-ball spinner play in Geelong were left disappointed when the Renegades listed Zampa as 'managed' and would miss just the second game of their tournament.

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What made it more frustrating for Aussie cricket fans is the Renegades don't play again until the December 21 so the team have a 10 day rest. Some fans questioned whether Zampa was not selected because of the conditions.

Unfortunately, the Big Bash game was abandoned after water created havoc with the pitch and after 6.5 overs the umpires deemed it unsafe to play on. This occurred after a delivery to Josh Inglis ballooned through to South African wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock, who reacted with shock.

Zampa played against the Sydney Sixers on Friday taking 2-24 in the away loss. Although it appeared after a long season of cricket the Renegades are going to manage the spin bowler. Regardless, fans were left fuming with one of the game's premier spin bowlers not on display in the opening week of the competition.

On the weekend, Usman Khawaja said coach Andrew McDonald and Pat Cummins - as well as chief selector George Bailey - were much more in touch with how the players need to mentally refresh and take some of the load off at times throughout the year. The 36-year-old was rested for the first few Sheffield Shield games this summer after a gruelling year which included Test tours of India and England. Zampa could have fallen under this category at the Renegades after such a long season.

Ricky Ponting calls out Big Bash pitch drama

De Kock's reaction following a ball that ballooned to him at wicketkeeper was the final delivery in the game played at GMHBA Stadium. This sparked a spray from former Aussie captain Ricky Ponting who labelled the pitch unfit to play on.

"I'm going to say it - I think that's a bit ridiculous," he said. "We started this game hoping that the wicket was going to play better than we thought and better than it looked, but that one there is ... if that's straight where is it going to go? Straight up under your grill."

"We started this game hoping that the wicket was going to play better than we thought and better than it looked, but that one there is ... if that's straight where is it going to go? Straight up under your grill."

Cricket Australia released a statement saying the Renegades and Scorchers would both receive one point due to the 'no result'. Fans who attended the game were also offered a full refund despite initial concerns that the six overs had resulted in an official game.

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