- Test match was over in just two days
Piers Morgan has blasted Cricket Australia for making the curator of the MCG a ‘sacrificial lamb’ amid intense criticism of the wicket for the Boxing Day Test.
The pitch prepared by head groundsman Matt Page has been blasted after 36 wickets fell in just two days of action in Melbourne.
England won their first Test match Down Under in almost 15 years as batters from both sides struggled badly with the conditions.
Page has been slammed after he admitted he got the deck badly wrong and confessed to being in a ‘state of shock’ as 20 batters were dismissed on the first day of play.
Morgan defended the groundsman, and instead took aim at Australian cricket’s top brass.
‘Australia offering up the groundsman as a sacrificial lamb is pathetic. Both sides batted and bowled on the same pitch, twice. England batted and bowled better. End,’ he said in a post on X.
Piers Morgan has slammed Aussie cricket bosses for making MCG head curator Matt Page a scapegoat for the farcical two-day Ashes Test in Melbourne
Morgan (pictured) insinuated that Australia are trying to turn attention away from their defeat by blaming the conditions at the MCG
Matt Page (pictured) fronted the media to explain what happened with the wicket in an extremely unusual move for a groundsman
Morgan’s take divided fans online.
‘Can someone please acknowledge that the players were reckless in shot selection. That pitch wasn’t ridiculous, the pile on is,’ one wrote on X.
‘All this does is take away any accountability from the batsmen. Yeah it was a good wicket to bowl on, but the batting was disgraceful,’ another added.
‘I don’t think you ‘get to learn’ from a million-dollar mistake like this. He’ll be moved sideways or backwards and the MCG suits are using him as a human shield to protect their own accountability,’ a third said.
‘It’s wild. How did this poor bloke Matt Page end up having to take more responsibility for defeat than the Australian cricket team?’ another fan commented.
Others disagreed with Morgan.
‘You’re missing the point – he’s out there explaining why it was such a quick game (and hence significant loss of revenue), not making excuses for the aussies…calm down,’ one wrote.
‘No one is saying he’s responsible for the defeat. Australia lost fair and square. He is responsible for the conditions being so s**t that it led to a 2 day game and over 10 million in revenue lost. Anything that loses that amount of money is bound to be facing scrutiny,’ another pointed out.
Australia was left stunned after the result in the Boxing Day Test match
‘He’s not apologising for Australia losing – but for the game only lasting two days. You’re missing the point here Piers,’ another fan wrote.
The disaster with the pitch could now mean the MCG receives a downgraded rating for the wicket.
Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg has also opened the door to the governing body taking a more hands-on approach to how tracks are prepared for Test matches.
‘Simple phrase I’d use is, short Tests are bad for business,’ Greenberg said in the wake of the Boxing Day match, which is estimated to cost CA at least $10million in lost revenue.
‘That [having a hand in pitch preparation] is something we’ll have to look at at the end of the series because historically, we have taken a hands-off approach on all of our wicket preparation.
‘It’s hard not to get more involved when you see the impact on the sport, especially commercially.’
