Watch: Marnus Labuschagne takes body blows in Sheffield match before umpires abandon play

Day 1 of the Sheffield match between Queensland and South Australia was stopped due to dangerous playing conditions. Not the first instance though, play getting stopped due to the risk of a player getting injured is definitely rare.

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The pitch at the Karen Rolton Oval in Adelaide looked good from outside but didn't behave like a regular Adelaide pitch. It all started when Joe Burns was dismissed of a delivery that took off from nowhere. The next batter in was Marnus Labuschagne. The right-hander was taken aback by the uneven bounce of the surface and took a few body blows before the umpires got together to have a discussion. Things got worse after tea when two delivery jumped from length, leaving the batter bamboozled. It was then the umpires decided that play cannot go ahead with these conditions.

Queensland were 87/1 in 50 overs when the match was stopped. Bryce Street was batting at 45* off 147 balls, while Marnus Labuschagne was unbeaten on 21* off 48 deliveries.

Sheffield Shield match on Day 1 between Queensland and South Australia has been called off due to uneven bounce because of a wet patch on the pitch! Marnus Labuschagne coped some body blows !! #SheffieldShield pic.twitter.com/drjK5uOoiC

— Cric Trend (@crictrend_) November 23, 2021

Speaking on the abandonment of day's play, match referee Steve Davis said, "There's a particular area of concern that's being operated on now, and that's why the players came off the field... What we're trying to do is just get some play, but it's obvious from the way the ball has behaved recently that was going to create a bit of a problem and the umpires were quite right to come off."

"There was a couple of people that were hit on the gloves and in the stomach area, and it was just behaving a bit unusual and that always gives you a bit of an alert. Then the umpires decided to bring them off and see what we can do about it. The playing conditions say the umpires can allow anything that can be done to make the game continue, and we clarified that with CA as well," he concluded.