ICC rates MCG Boxing Day Test pitch 'unsatisfactory'

The MCG pitch for the Boxing Day Ashes Test between Australia and England, which ended inside two days, has earned itself an "unsatisfactory" rating from the ICC match referee for the game, Jeff Crowe. As a result, the MCG will get one demerit point.

Under the ICC's four-tier pitch-rating system, "unsatisfactory" is the third ranking and characterises a pitch that "does not allow an even contest between bat and ball… by favouring the bowlers too much, with too many wicket-taking opportunities for either seam or spin". The MCG pitch had received the highest "very good" rating for the past three Boxing Day Tests.

"The MCG pitch was too much in favour of the bowlers," Crowe said. "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 was the second two-day Test at the ongoing Ashes, following the opening match in Perth where the surface was rated "very good". Australia won that and the next two Test matches before losing at MCG.

"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 Boxing Day Test against New Zealand and the hugely anticipated 150th Anniversary Test against England in March 2027."

A day after the Test ended, MCG curator Matt Page said he was in "a state of shock", having watched 20 wickets fall on the opening day and 16 more the next in a total of 142 overs.

Page's decision to leave 10mm of grass on the surface - informed by a hot forecast for the final three days of the match - had come under significant scrutiny after 7mm was left on against India last season which produced a Test that ended late on the fifth day.

The two-day finish is expected to cost CA up to AUD10 million on top of the significant loss from the opening Test.

Having two such finishes in a series - the first time it has happened in 129 years - prompted CA chief executive Todd Greenberg to float the possibility of the governing body having more of a say to curators who, traditionally in Australia, have been able to work independently.

Australia coach Andrew McDonald hoped that would remain the way and offered his support to Page, who started in Melbourne when McDonald was still Victoria coach, having been brought in from the WACA after the MCG received a "poor" rating (under a previous ICC system) for the 2017-18 Ashes Test.

"I don't want to get to a situation ... where we are asking for specific surfaces and tailor-made," McDonald said on Monday. "I don't think Australia will ever go there, and I don't think they've ever been there, to my knowledge.

"Sometimes these things can happen, but we support him in what he's done and really proud of the evolution of the MCG. We don't want to scare him off and get back to where we were. He's found a nice balance for a long period of time. We believe we're a better batting group than that, but what we did there says otherwise."