Marvel Stadium roof height: How high is the roof at Marvel Stadium Melbourne?

The Marvel Stadium or the Docklands Stadium in Melbourne is the only closed stadium in Australia. During the recent Melbourne Derby between Melbourne Renegades and Melbourne Stars in the BBL 12, a couple of interesting incidents happened during the match where ball hit the roof, and the bizarre rules made a lot of talking points.

Due to the weather conditions, the match was played under the roof, and Melbourne Stars were quite lucky during their batting innings. First Joe Clarke and then Beau Webster, both the batters hit the ball, and it went high to touch the roof. It was certain that both balls would not have crossed the boundary ropes, but luck was on their side.

According to BBL’s revised playing conditions, any ball which hits the roof will hand six runs to the batter instead of being called a dead ball irrespective of whether it would have been a six or not. This rule has certainly created a lot of news, and it certainly looks unfair in hindsight.

Marvel Stadium roof height

After the Melbourne Derby, there is curiosity amongst the fans that what is the height of the roof of the Marvel Stadium. The height of the stadium is 38 metres, and it is certainly not common to hit the ball that high in normal scenarios. It takes around 10 minutes to open and close the roof of the stadium.

Despite getting 12 runs from these couple of incidents, the Stars managed to lose the match by 6 runs in the end. They are at the bottom position in the table with just 3 wins in 11 games, and they are officially out of the tournament as well.

It was not the first time that batters smashed the roof of the Marvel Stadium. Michael Hussey and Aaron Finch have done that in the past, but according to rules at that time, it was called a dead ball. However, Finch was the first player to get the benefit from the new rule as well, when he got 6 runs against Hobart Hurricanes.