MCG pitch rated as ‘unsatisfactory’ by the ICC after 2-day finish and the MCG will be handed a demerit point.
ICC rates MCG Boxing Day Test pitch ‘unsatisfactory’.
The ICC match referee for the Boxing Day Ashes Test between Australia and England, which concluded in just two days, gave the MCG pitch a “unsatisfactory” rating. The MCG will so receive one penalty point.
“We were disappointed for the fans holding tickets for days three and four, and also the millions of fans excited to watch the action in Australia and around the world, that the pitch did not provide the MCG’s customary balance between bat and ball,” James Allsopp, Cricket Australia (CA) chief of cricket, said in a statement.
“We appreciate the outstanding work the MCC staff have done over recent years producing excellent Test match pitches. We’re confident they will deliver first-rate surfaces for next year’s NRMA Insurance Boxing Day Test against New Zealand and the hugely anticipated 150th Anniversary Test against England in March 2027.”
“Unsatisfactory” is the third ranking in the ICC’s four-tier pitch grading system, which describes a pitch that “does not allow an even contest between bat and ball…” by favouring the bowlers too much, with too many wicket-taking possibilities for either seam or spin. For the previous three Boxing Day Tests, the MCG pitch, interestingly, obtained the highest “very good” rating.
After winning the first three Test matches before losing the one at MCG, Australia won the second two-day Test in the current Ashes.
MCG curator Matt Page claimed to be in “a state of shock” a day after the Test concluded after witnessing 20 wickets fall in 142 overs on the first day and 16 more the following. Given a scorching forecast for the last three days of the game, Page’s choice to leave 10 mm of grass on the surface had drawn a lot of criticism.
Additionally, it is anticipated that the two-day event will cost CA up to AUD 10 million.