Tom Parker thought he'd seen it all in 17 years as Sydney Cricket Ground curator, until Major League Baseball officials first walked into his office.
Parker knows everything there is to know about preparing wickets for the spotlight of Test cricket, but admits the idea of shifting in 250 tonnes worth of clay and cutting up 3,560 square metres of grass for four days of baseball was a "mind boggling" prospect.
But after less than two days of digging, the incredible and historic transformation of the SCG is already well underway.
The centre wicket where Australia celebrated their 5-0 Ashes triumph in early January is now a faded strip.
Mitchell Johnson's run-up from the Bradman end is dissected by the infield diamond to be occupied next month by the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks.
The veteran head of the SCG groundstaff Parker says he's embraced the project and compared the experience to the pressures of preparing a wicket for an Ashes Test.
"It's very similar. There's no margin for error with this," said Parker of building a baseball field which will be watched by sold out crowds and hundreds of millions of viewers on television across the United States and Asia.
"It was a bit mind-boggling. How are we going to do it and the cost of this. Especially with stage two development (the new Bradman and Noble Stands) going on at the same time.
"It's not as if there's nothing else happening out on the ground. But it's all come together."
Rain is the only obstacle for Parker and MLB project manager Murray Cook, who has built baseball fields in over 68 different countries, including for the Sydney and Beijing Olympic Games.
All things going well, the reconstruction will be complete within seven days, and it will take the same length of time to change the field back after the series concludes on March 23 before the Swans' first home game at the SCG on April 13.
