Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, noted that the impressive crowd of 94,199 at the MCG was “royally entertained” as they witnessed the highest number of wickets to fall on the first day of an Ashes test since 1909, but he criticized the pitch after both teams collapsed dramatically.
England opted to field after winning the toss, bowling out Australia for 152 before being all out for 110 themselves. At stumps, Australia stood at 4-0, leading by 46 runs as they approached day two.
“We’re always aiming for a fair balance between bat and ball. I found it unjust for the batters,” Vaughan commented to BBC.
“The pitch has shown considerable movement. It hasn’t been easy for either side, but I dislike seeing a pitch that offers so much assistance to the bowlers.”
Unfair contest
Alastair Cook, another former captain and opening batter, shared his disappointment, describing it as “not a great test match wicket” since England was dismissed in only 29.5 overs.
“Unless it flattens out on days two, three, or four — if we get that far — it heavily favored the bowlers,” Cook told TNT Sports.
“Was it an unfair contest? Yes. Could both sides have performed better? Certainly, but given some of that bowling, I don’t know how you face it.”
Stuart Broad, a former England fast bowler, remarked that the pitch was “doing too much” and emphasized that test bowlers “don’t require this level of movement to be effective.” Ex-Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath added that the pitch had too much grass.
“That pitch has an excess of life for test cricket. It had 10mm of grass, when I believe 7mm would have sufficed. However, I think the groundsman was more concerned about the conditions on days three, four, and five,” McGrath stated.
Nonetheless, he mentioned that the conditions might benefit England when they bat again.
“As the weather warms up, it will affect the top of the rollers,” he continued. “It might reach a point where England bats in the fourth innings under the best batting conditions of the match.”
