The Melbourne Cricket Ground is in danger of losing its annual Boxing Day Test this year because of delays with redevelopments at the ground.

Officials insist the MCG, cricket's oldest Test venue, will be ready for the second Test against Pakistan starting on December 26 but have booked the nearby Docklands Stadium just in case.

"We're on schedule and I think we're okay... but in all good planning arrangements you've got to have a back up," Melbourne Cricket Club chief executive Stephen Gough told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio on Tuesday.

The MCG is being redeveloped in preparation for the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

The entire surface was ripped up in October so workmen could lay the foundations for an athletics track to be built in 2006.

They had expected to finish the first stage well before the start of the Test but were delayed by a week of heavy rain in Melbourne.