The Melbourne Cricket Club has apologised for the state of the pitch at the MCG, which forced a Sheffield Shield match between Victoria and WA to be abandoned after attempts to make it playable for day two failed.

Key points: Despite attempts to clear up the MCG pitch, the Victoria-WA Sheffield Shield match was called off with three days left because of safety concerns

Despite attempts to clear up the MCG pitch, the Victoria-WA Sheffield Shield match was called off with three days left because of safety concerns Shaun Marsh and Marcus Stoinis, who were hit by deliveries on day one, were cleared of concussion

Shaun Marsh and Marcus Stoinis, who were hit by deliveries on day one, were cleared of concussion The problematic pitch is not expected to be used for the Australia-New Zealand Test match starting on Boxing Day

A day of drama unfolded on Saturday when play was called off midway through the second session because of fears for the players' safety.

Too much moisture in the drop-in wicket led to divots, which hardened under the sun, creating uneven bounce and danger for the batsmen.

Curator Matt Page and his ground staff attempted to even out the deck and make it playable after the embarrassing situation unfolded.

However, match officials determined on Sunday that the pitch was still too dangerous.

It was another blow for the maligned MCG pitch, which has been criticised as being too docile in recent years and received unfavourable ICC ratings.

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MCC chief executive Stuart Fox and Cricket Australia head of cricket operations Peter Roach faced the media on Sunday morning following the decision to call off the game.

Fox defended the approach taken by Page ahead of the match.

"I think we all know this is not ideal, but our curators and staff have our full support," Fox said.

"They haven't done this on their own, it's been at the direction of the Melbourne Cricket Club and that has been supported by all of our stakeholders.

"We've all wanted more life in these pitches — we didn't want this much, it is unfortunate and we apologise for that.

"But we're not going to crucify people, it's all about learning.

"We're spending a lot of money to improve our pitches over the long term, and it was never, ever going to be a short-term game."

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Fox said Page had put extra moisture in the pitch to achieve more sideways movement.

"They put too much [water] in," he said.

"We produced two good pitches [for the previous two Shield games], now this one has just tipped over."

Roach said the Boxing Day Test would go ahead as scheduled.

He had spoken to representatives of New Zealand cricket on Saturday evening and said that they were "relatively comfortable" with his explanation of events.

The pitch used for the Shield game was different from the one used for the previous two MCG four-day matches.

A third pitch would be used for Boxing Day.

"I've got more confidence the Boxing Day Test [pitch] will produce a good balance between bat and ball than last year," Roach said.

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WA batsmen Shaun Marsh and Marcus Stoinis had both required concussion tests after being hit by deliveries from Victorian quick Peter Siddle that reared unexpectedly.

Stoinis also took a nasty blow to the ribs after misjudging a delivery from Andrew Fekete.

Marsh and Stoinis were cleared of concussion.

WA had reached 3-89 before play was called off on day one, with left-handed opener Jake Carder (44) carving out a solid innings in difficult batting conditions.

Carder fell victim to Siddle (3-21), who was Victoria's most damaging bowler.

AAP/ABC