Aussies aiming for seven in a row

A lowdown on the MCG, where Australia have won the last six Tests

Cricinfo staff24-Dec-2005

Matthew Hayden: three centuries in six Tests at the MCG © Getty Images

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If it's Boxing Day, there must be a Test match on at Melbourne, and if recent trend is anything to go by, it must end with an Australian victory. Since 1999, Australia have won every one of six matches, and the stats are pretty impressive over a longer period too: 12 wins in the last 16 matches, with only two defeats. South Africa, on the other hand, won't have too many pleasant memories of the ground, having won only two out of ten Tests there.

Winning the toss is usually an advantage at any venue, but that doesn't seem to be the case at Melbourne. Since 1988, 15 out of 17 Tests have ended decisively, but in 12 of those 15 matches, the team losing the toss went on to win. All three of Australia's defeats during this period happened after they won the toss. The problem seems to be the fact that, unlike some other venues, there isn't a bat-first or bowl-first formula which seems to work here - in the last 17 matches, nine times the captain winning the toss has batted, and eight times he has chosen to field.

The runs-per-wicket figure suggests that batting first is a good option here, since the pitch gradually tends to favour bowlers more than the batsmen. In the last seven matches here - since 1998 - teams average 39 runs per wicket in the first innings, but the number falls to 34.8, 29.4 and 21.8 in the next three innings. (Click here to check out more Test stats at the MCG.)

With three centuries and two fifties in six Tests, the MCG is clearly a venue which Matthew Hayden relishes - he averages 60.66 here. Ricky Ponting hasn't done badly here either - though he has had a couple of lean games, his monumental 257 against India in 2003-04 has been largely instrumental in pushing his average to 77.50. Meanwhile, Australia's two champion bowlers both have splendid figures at Melbourne: Glenn McGrath's 36 wickets in nine matches have come at 22 apiece, while Shane Warne has 43 wickets from the same number of matches at a slightly higher average of 24.72.

South Africa will be hoping Jacques Kallis regains his fitness in time for the Boxing Day contest: his scores in his two previous Tests here read 15, 101, 38, 99 - 253 runs at 63.25. Shaun Pollock, the only other player from the current South African squad to have played two Tests here, has also done well with the ball, taking eight wickets at 27.75.

Aussies aiming for seven in a row

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