300 ejections but crowd praised

MELBOURNE, Dec 15 AAP - Police ejected 300 fans from today's day-night tri-series cricket match between Australia and England at the MCG.

But despite that officials and police were happy with the crowd's behaviour.

Police ejected 300 fans and arrested eight - two of them streakers - as Australia beat England by 89 runs.

Police and organisers said the match was largely trouble-free.

But in a disappointing return for organisers, only 34,887 fans attended the game despite perfect conditions.

Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) general manager Stephen Gough said the high number of ejections was due to a tougher crackdown on offensive behaviour.

"Overall, we were quite happy with the behaviour of the crowd," he said.

But Gough said the MCC was disappointed with the crowd size and said a Sunday fixture just before Christmas could have contributed to the low turn-out.

"I would have thought about 50,000 would have been a good figure, we were rather disappointed," he said.

The MCC and Australian Cricket Board (ACB) last week warned Melbourne's future as a one-day cricket venue was at risk because of continued crowd trouble in recent years.

ACB spokesman Peter Young said fans had taken notice of the warning and responded in turn.

"There's certainly a very, very broad community awareness on what the expectations and requirements were and tonight we've seen a very well-behaved and good-humoured crowd," he said.

A greater police presence was noticeable at the match, with the MCC also making use of additional security and extra security camera vision.

Fans experienced longer delays entering the ground as security staff conducted thorough bag searches.

Melbourne's opening weekend in last summer's tri-series saw more than 30 fans arrested and 400 ejected over the two matches, mainly for drunkenness.

Two streakers ran across the field in the first half of the England innings and were quickly beset upon by police.

The duo face fines of up to $5,000.