England secured a four-wicket victory late on day two, marking their first test win in the country in 15 years, but skipper Ben Stokes criticized the pitch, despite his batters successfully chasing down 175 runs for the win.
Stokes informed reporters that his feedback to the match referee would not be favorable for a pitch that still had a centimetre of grass left by the curator on day one’s morning.
“When you go out there and face the conditions, you have to just get on with it,” Stokes explained to reporters.
“But to be completely honest, that’s not really what you hope for.
“In a Boxing Day test match, you don’t expect a game to finish in less than two days. That’s far from ideal.”
England was all out for 110 in response to Australia’s first innings total of 152 on day one, with poor shot selection being just a minor aspect of the larger narrative.
Australia was dismissed for 132 during their second innings in the middle session on day two before England triumphed with 178 for six.
Last year’s test in Melbourne between Australia and India had around 7mm of grass remaining on the wicket initially and extended deep into day five.
Australia’s interim captain Steve Smith provided a tepid defense of MCG curator Matt Page, asserting that achieving the right balance for ground staff is challenging.
However, with day three tickets sold out at the 100,000-seat venue, Saturday proved to be a disappointing day for local cricket, causing Cricket Australia to lose millions in potential revenue.
This was yet another financial setback following the two-day series opener in Perth.
“The wicket was clearly a challenging one,” Smith remarked to reporters.
“Thirty-six wickets over two days likely provided just a bit too much.
“Financially, things aren’t ideal. Tomorrow was expected to be a sell-out. So, it’s disappointing for those (fans) who wanted to attend.”
