The MCG has been handed one demerit point after the ICC deemed the pitch that was used during the Boxing Day Test match ‘unsatisfactory’.
In his assessment of the wicket, Jeff Crowe of the ICC’s Elite Panel of Match Referees echoed the views of many players past and present, stating that the pitch had been prepared ‘too much in favour of the bowlers’.
Players, fans and pundits have been queuing up to criticise how the wicket had been prepared, with England wrapping up a four-wicket victory inside just two days.
Twenty wickets fell on the first day of the match, with this also being the shortest-ever Test hosted at the MCG since 1932.
‘The MCG pitch was [prepared] too much in favour of the bowlers,’ Mr Crowe said when handing down his verdict.
‘With 20 wickets falling on the first day, 16 on the second day and no batter even reaching a half-century, the pitch was “unsatisfactory” as per the guidelines and the venue gets one demerit point.’
It is now being reported by The Sydney Morning Herald that Cricket Australia could lose up to $25million (£12.43m) in revenue after the Boxing Day Test ended prematurely.
Stakeholders and broadcasters have been left ‘fuming’ following the match, with Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg telling SEN on Saturday that ‘short Tests were bad for business’. Greenberg also hinted that the governing body could pay closer attention to how pitches are prepared in future.
On Sunday, Melbourne Cricket Club curator Matt Page fronted the media to claim that he and his team had got the preparations wrong, adding that he had been ‘in a state of shock’.
While batters on both sides have been slammed for poor performances during the match, curators had left 10mm of grass on the wicket, resulting in 36 wickets falling in 142 overs across both days. The highest score from both teams was struck by Aussie star Travis Head, who amassed 46 runs during Australia’s second innings.
‘I was in a state of shock after the first day, to see everything that happened and 20 wickets in a day, I’ve never been involved in a Test match like it, and hopefully will never be involved in a Test match like it again,’ Page said.
‘It was a roller-coaster ride for two days to see everything unfold.’
Page defended the decision to leave 10mm of grass on the wicket.
‘This year we went in with 10mm as we knew we were going to get a lot of hot weather at the back end of the game,’ he said.
During last year’s Boxing Day Test, curators had left only 7mm of grass on the wicket, with Australia going on to seal a thrilling victory against India on the fifth day of the Test match.
Page had hoped to replicate those same conditions, but instead, the wicket became a fast-bowler’s dream.
England captain Ben Stokes was particularly critical of the wicket, telling TNT Sports: ‘I’m pretty sure if that was somewhere else in the world there’d be hell on [earth].
‘It is not the best thing for games that should be played over five days but we played a type of cricket that ended up getting the job done,’ Stokes added.
His Aussie counterpart, Steve Smith, was more sympathetic to Page and his team.
‘Maybe if you took it from 10 to eight mm (of grass), it would have been a nice, challenging wicket, but maybe a little bit more even,’ stand-in Australia captain Steve Smith said before offering some empathy to the grounds staff.
‘But groundsmen are always learning and they’ll probably take something from that.’
Melbourne Cricket Club Ceo Stuart Fox placed his support behind Page when pressed on the pitch debacle.
More to follow…
