WACA curator Cam Sutherland has claimed he and his ground staff have been misunderstood in Perth's 'pitch party' affair, insisting they were only doing a last minute check on the Test strip.
Indian television cameras had earlier captured more than 10 WACA employees standing, drinking and lying on the pitch as Sutherland did a final inspection on the block around 7.30 p.m. Perth time on match eve.
The footage was shown to the Indian management and Test captain MS Dhoni and the tourists urged Cricket Australia to review the issue.
"I was the one that removed covers. I was out doing the work initially and a couple of my staff came out and joined me. We were the ones that were lying on the pitch and that seems to be the issue. Well, yeah, we were working on it,” the Courier Mail quoted Sutherland, as saying.
He added: "We had an issue when the Adelaide Strikers warmed up on it [before the] Twenty20 game on Sunday, which they weren't supposed to. So we were just looking at the aesthetics of it.”
Sutherland further said on Perth Radio: "It''s too hard to do it on the morning of the game or the day before when they are doing all their markings. The reason we were doing it so late was I had other commitments up until seven o''clock when I came back and I hadn''t seen it for a few hours. I wanted to have a look and make sure everything was how I wanted it to be."
"We thought there would be no one there and hard-working staff work behind the scenes in the offices, who are obviously females and don't get out to the wicket, probably don't understand the Test wicket but they love the night before to go out and say, 'Geez, well done boys and this looks great' or whatever.
"They came out and they took off their shoes and they showed a pretty good respect. Someone walked across it which we saw, which is a bit unfortunate. Ten minutes later they were gone but we were still out there an hour later doing our thing. That's the thing the footage doesn''t show - working on the Test wicket."
"We have been made to look unprofessional but we were trying to get it as best as possible for both sides today and that''s been turned on its head."
WACA chief executive Graeme Wood said it had become customary for WACA grounds men to have a drink on Test eve to celebrate their hard work.
"To me this is a storm in a tea cup,'' Wood said. "The magnificent work they do is celebrated around the cricket world and they are entitled to be proud of themselves. It won't hurt that wicket block having a few people with bare feet walk on it. They were doing the final preparation for the wicket.''
Last night senior BCCI official Rajiv Shukla said Cricket Australia must look into the incident.
"It is a serious matter and the Australian cricket board should look into it. It is the responsibility of the host cricket board to maintain the wicket," Shukla said.
Asked if they had talked to Cricket Australia about it, he said: "It''s up to the team management to look into it."
Although the groundstaff were bare-footed, having the pitch uncovered hours before play is in violation of ICC guidelines.
And the official website of the West Australian Cricket Association (WACA) lists alcohol as a prohibited item inside the stadium.