Geelong coach Chris Scott has bemoaned the centre cricket wicket at the SCG, saying it looked more like a pitch in India than an AFL ground.

The veteran coach was spotted appearing to shake his head in disapproval as he inspected the turf wicket area before Sunday’s clash against Sydney.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Chris Scott bemoans SCG surface after Sydney clash.

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The SCG, along with the Gabba, is one of the few AFL grounds left in the country that still has a turf wicket left in place throughout the winter.

Most grounds now, like the MCG, Adelaide Oval, and Optus Stadium, use drop-in wickets which are installed after the AFL season.

Asked about his thoughts on the ground after the game, Scott said it was less than ideal.

“The actual surface looks beautiful, the rye grass is quite soft, I know there’s been a lot of rain up here,” he said.

“But it’s the contrast between quite soft area outside the centre square and then pretty rock-hard centre wicket area — it’s just not conducive to AFL football.

“And so, the strange part with so much rain is that it’s covered all the time, and you’ve got this baked... you know, it looked like Mumbai out there.

“That’s for them to work through, but my position would be, if you think that’s optimal for AFL football, you don’t understand what’s optimal for AFL football.

“But again, not my concern, really. Well, it was my concern today, but I wouldn’t read too much into my body language.”

Scott said he wasn’t too fazed with it, but admitted the cricket pitch being covered the day before the game posed a problem for their captain’s run.

“I wasn’t that worried; it was exactly what we expected. We rocked up here yesterday and the centre wicket’s covered,” he said.

“I’m not sure there’s much point having a training session the day before when the pitch is covered — it’s pretty much the reason we’re here.”

He doesn’t have too much to be annoyed about though — Geelong are in the box seat to claim a top-two finish after cruising to a 43-point win over Sydney without a firing Jeremy Cameron.

Cats spearhead Cameron was held goalless as the visitors posted a 16.15 (111) to 10.8 (68) result in front of 37,565 fans at the SCG on Sunday.

Scott’s side should easily wrap up second spot for the finals with lowly Richmond up next for their final home-and-away clash.

Ladder leaders Adelaide, who are one game clear, will also be heavily favoured to beat strugglers North Melbourne.

Geelong would gain home team designation for their finals if they finish top two, but the AFL has said they would be at the MCG rather than the Cats’ GMBHA Stadium.

“Our ambition is just to win the next game and I think that would get us a home final,” Scott said.

“The language around, ‘Oh, we won’t settle for anything less’, it implies that if there was less on the line that we’d try less.

“I just don’t subscribe to that theory. We should be trying to get every single bit right now.”

Cameron was looking to make strides towards becoming the first player since Lance Franklin in 2008 to reach 100 goals in a season.

Instead, Cameron — who leads the league on 79 goals — finished with just 10 touches and one behind under close attention from Sydney defender Tom McCartin.

Shannon Neale was electric early with four goals in the first half, while Tyson Stengle and Shaun Mannagh slotted three goals apiece.

Cats midfielder Bailey Smith collected 30 touches and five clearances.

Geelong coach Scott pulled all the right levers to limit Sydney’s midfield stars, with Mark O’Connor brilliant in a tagging role on proven match-winner Isaac Heeney.

Heeney (one goal, 15 disposals) could not contain his frustration and gave away three free kicks to the Cats defender for high blows and a dangerous tackle.

“The only discussion I had with Isaac is to worry about what he can control,” Swans coach Dean Cox said.

“Frustration can get the best of you and it happened a couple of times tonight.”

Errol Gulden and Chad Warner had little say, while Pete Ladhams impressed (two goals, 35 hitouts) as a fill-in for concussed Swans ruck Brodie Grundy.

Sydney had started brightly and kept Geelong goalless until near the 20-minute mark of the first quarter.

But the Swans fumbled their 20-point lead, with Neale kicking two goals to fire the Cats ahead.

Ladhams responded to draw scores level at 4.3 (27) at quarter-time, with Cats ruck Mark Blicavs spraying his after-the-siren snap from the boundary.

A rare McCartin goal helped the Swans regain the lead but it didn’t last long.

Geelong wrestled back momentum with two Neale goals and built a nine-point lead at halftime when Stengle kicked his first major.

The home side slotted only one goal in the third quarter before Tom Papley reached the 300-goal mark with a long bomb from just outside the 50m arc.

- With AAP