- Australia lead Ashes series 3-1 going into last Test
Stand-in Australia captain Steve Smith has made the bizarre claim that a ball being smashed for six into an LED screen at the MCG played a huge role in deciding the outcome of the fourth Ashes Test.
Smith believes the shot by England’s Zak Crawley, which ended up hitting LED signage beyond the boundary rope, softened the seam of the ball and made batting easier during the tourists’ second innings.
England chased down the 175 runs needed to secure their first win of the series.
They did so after Crawley and fellow opener Ben Duckett came out guns blazing against the Aussie bowling attack.
According to Smith, the turning point came in the fourth over, with Crawley’s strike sending the ball thundering into the signage screen.
‘A couple of their heavy blows softened our seam quite a bit and probably didn’t offer quite as much as it had for the rest of the game after that, so credit to them,’ Smith said.
Steve Smith (pictured) has made a bold claim about the turning point that led to England’s victory in the Boxing Day Test
Zak Crawley (pictured) hit the six that Smith believes put a huge dent in Australia’s chances of taking a 4-0 lead in the series
The Aussie skipper is pictured congratulating England captain Ben Stokes after the contest was settled in just two days
‘They obviously played some shots where they hit the ball pretty hard and then I think Zak hit one into the LED boards, and that definitely softened the seam, no doubt about it.’
Smith’s take stands out because it ignores the state of the MCG wicket, which has been slammed from pillar to post for being far too biased in favour of the bowlers.
The track is being blamed for deciding the result so early and costing Cricket Australia at least $10million in lost revenue.
Despite the seam of the ball softening, England lost six wickets in their run chase.
The side wobbled towards the target, but a glance off the thigh pad of Harry Brook, which raced to the boundary, gave their fans something to cheer about.
England skipper Ben Stokes believes the opening stand of 51 between Crawley and Duckett set them up for the win.
‘That opening partnership between Zak and Ducky was a huge, huge reason as to why we chased that total down,’ Stokes said.
‘There was only one way of going about chasing that tally down, which was to go out there and try to put the pressure on from ball one.’
With Australia leading the series 3-1, attention now turns to the New Year’s Test.
The fifth and final match of the Ashes series gets underway on January 4 at the SCG.
