Steve Smith has publicly criticized the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) pitch following Australia's loss to England in the Boxing Day Ashes Test, which concluded in just two days. Smith expressed his dissatisfaction, stating that a situation where 36 wickets fall in two days is far from ideal.
England secured a four-wicket victory, their first Test win on Australian soil since January 2011. The match was marked by bowler dominance, with the English side, captained by Ben Stokes, chasing down a target of 175 runs on the second day. Josh Tongue was named player of the match. The rapid conclusion of the Test sparked widespread debate regarding the quality of the pitch.
Twenty wickets tumbled on the first day alone, a phenomenon not seen in an Ashes Test since 1909. England won the toss and chose to bowl first, dismissing Australia for 152. However, England fared even worse, getting bowled out for just 110. On the second day, Australia were bowled out for 132, setting England the modest target. England ultimately reached 178/6 to win the match. No player from either team managed to score a half-century, a境況 that had not occurred in an Australian Test match since 1932.
Smith had earlier described the pitch as "quite furry, quite green" with a significant grass covering. This observation led Australia to select an all-seam bowling attack, omitting specialist spinner Todd Murphy. Smith noted that pitches in Australia recently have favored seam bowlers over spin. He said that the decision to drop spin would have happened even if Nathan Lyon was fit.
Former players have also weighed in on the pitch conditions. Michael Vaughan, former England captain, described the pitch as a "shocker". Alastair Cook, another former England captain, felt the contest was "unfair" due to the heavy bias towards bowlers. Stuart Broad said that the pitch "has just done far too much". Ricky Ponting questioned the amount of grass left on the surface.
The Melbourne Cricket Club curator, Matt Page, had left 10mm of grass on the pitch, the same amount as the previous year's Test against India, which lasted five days. The intention was to ensure the pitch held together longer given the forecast of warmer weather later in the Test. However, this decision appears to have backfired, creating excessive movement for the bowlers and contributing to the Test's premature finish.
Despite the challenging conditions, England's captain Ben Stokes expressed his satisfaction with the win. He acknowledged the tough tour and celebrated finally being "on the right side of a result". England's victory means the series stands at 3-1 in favor of Australia.
