Tracy Village Cricket Club curator Jack Flynn set fire to his pitch in a bid to have it ready for the Darwin and District Cricket Competition season-opener.

But how is this for thinking outside the square?

Ever seen someone set fire to a cricket pitch?

It happened on the weekend.

WHAT IS the weirdest thing you have ever seen a curator do to a pitch? Scroll down to tell us in the comment box below.

The cricket season might be over in Victoria, but it kicked off on the weekend in the Northern Territory, where you’ll find several cricketers from Melbourne who simply can’t get enough of the game and want to play all year round.

But it almost didn’t happen.

Tracy Village Cricket Club president Jack Flynn, who doubles as the club’s curator, said, after covering the decks the night before, he rocked up to the ground to find the covers had been removed.

“I first thought they had blown off and I was about to be responsible for the season opener being cancelled,” Flynn said.

“I later found out the covers had been removed by someone.

“It was wet from storms and I only had six hours to get it up.”

Fortunately Flynn had been given plenty of ideas through his Facebook page ‘The Perfect Pitch’, which has more than 20,000 likes.

“I run the Facebook page and we’re always getting things submitted,” he said.

“I’ve seen people chuck coals on the pitch to dry it out and in the Caribbean they use kerosene on it.

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“I didn’t want to use something that was oil-based, so I thought metho would do the trick.

“It’s just alcohol and I figured it should burn up and not leave any residue. I used 20l first and it didn’t do much, so I poured another 40l on it dried it right out.”

Flynn’s quick-thinking ensured the sabotage attempt was in vain, with some mammoth scores hit across the tournament.

And it looks as though there has been no lasting damage.