Steve Smith delivers blunt MCG pitch verdict: "36 wickets in two days is probably too much"
Australia captain Steve Smith has delivered a blunt verdict on the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) pitch after the fourth Ashes Test ended in just two days, saying “36 wickets across two days is probably too much.” Smith’s comments came after England secured a dramatic four-wicket victory on Saturday, with both teams struggling on a surface offering excessive seam movement and uneven bounce.
“Probably too much”: Smith criticises pitch preparation
Speaking after the match, Smith pointed to the 10 millimetres of grass left on the surface as the primary issue, which created exaggerated sideways movement and made batting almost impossible for both sides.
“It was tricky. No one could really get in. I think when you see 36 wickets across two days, that’s probably too much,” Smith said. “It probably did a little bit more than they wanted it to. Maybe if we dropped it down to eight millimetres, it would be about right.”
The pitch saw 20 wickets fall on day one—the most on the opening day of an Ashes Test since 1909—with Australia bowled out for 152 and England replying with just 110. A further 16 wickets tumbled on day two before England chased down 175 in a tense finish, securing their first Test win in Australia since 2011.
Stokes: “Not what you want on Boxing Day”
England captain Ben Stokes echoed Smith’s sentiments, admitting that while his side managed to win, the spectacle was far from ideal.
“When you go out there and you’re faced with those conditions, you’ve got to crack on and deal with it,” Stokes said. “But being brutally honest, that’s not really what you want. You know, Boxing Day Test match, you don’t want a game finishing in less than two days. It’s not ideal, but you can’t change it once you start the game and you’ve just got to play what’s in front of you.”
Cricket Australia chief: “Short Tests are bad for business”
Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg delivered perhaps the most damning assessment, warning that short Tests are “bad for business” and cost the sport millions in lost revenue.
“A simple phrase I’d use is short Tests are bad for business. I can’t be much more blunt than that,” Greenberg said. “So I would like to see a slightly broader balance between the bat and the ball.”
The MCG debacle followed the series opener in Perth, which also ended inside two days after 19 wickets fell on day one. That match reportedly cost Cricket Australia millions of dollars in lost ticket sales, broadcasting revenue, and hospitality income.
Greenberg hinted that Cricket Australia may need to take a more interventionist role in pitch preparation going forward, despite curators traditionally being independent from the governing body.
“It’s hard not to get more involved when you see the impact on the sport, especially commercially,” he said. “I’m not suggesting I’ll go around talking to ground staff, but we do have to have a careful eye on what our expectations are over the course of a summer.”
Former greats slam MCG surface
The pitch has drawn widespread criticism from cricket legends. Former England captain Michael Vaughan called it “a joke,” while Alastair Cook branded the contest “unfair.”
“This is selling the game short,” Vaughan said on social media, while Cook argued that the pitch failed to provide a balanced contest between bat and ball.
The Melbourne Test was a historic occasion off the field, drawing a world-record single-day crowd of 94,199 on Boxing Day. However, those fans witnessed just over 70 overs of play on day one, with the match over before the scheduled lunch break on day two.
What happens next?
With the Ashes series standing at 3-1 in Australia’s favour heading into the fifth and final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) starting January 3, both teams and administrators will hope for a more balanced surface that allows for a genuine contest over five days.
Cricket Australia’s admission that it may need to play a more active role in pitch preparation signals a shift in policy and reflects growing concerns about the commercial and sporting damage caused by surfaces that favour bowlers too heavily.