Melbourne Ashes pitch rated ‘unsatisfactory’ by ICC

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has rated the Melbourne venue’s two-day Ashes Test as “unsatisfactory.”

The Melbourne Cricket Ground will receive one negative point as a result of the decision. A venue is prohibited from hosting international cricket for a year if it receives six demerit points over the course of a five-year period.

Since the ICC overhauled its system two years ago, an Australian pitch has been deemed subpar.

In the showpiece Boxing Day game, over 30 wickets were lost in six sessions, with too much seam movement on offer for pace bowlers.

Match officials Jeff Crowe and Jeff Crowe said, “The MCG pitch was too much in favor of the bowlers.”

10mm of grass was left on the pitch to counteract the hot conditions that the MCG’s head curator Matt Page had predicted later in the match, but this is just one more reason for the lively conditions.

Page claimed that during the match, which England won by four wickets, he was “in a state of shock.” The highest score was 46 for Australia in the second innings, according to Head.

The second two-day Ashes match featured the Boxing Day Test, but the surface for the other, the first Test in Perth, was rated as “very good,” suggesting that there was more to do with batter error.

The second-lowest rating for a pitch is “Unsatisfactory.”

There has been trouble with the MCG pitch before, but this is the first time an Australian strip has been rated subpar under the current system.

The bowlers were unable to get enough help in the drawn match of 2017, which ended up being a dull contest with only 24 wickets lost. That received a “poor” rating.

The pitch used to win for India was deemed “average” a year later.

Australia coach Andrew McDonald defended Page before the ICC’s announcement, arguing that the pitch this year should be viewed in the context of efforts to improve from 2017 on.

McDonald praised him for doing an outstanding job.

“I always use the idea that we [Australia] have bad Test matches as well,” I say. The first test match of the summer was a bad one.

We support him in what he’s done and are extremely proud of the MCG’s development, but sometimes these things can happen.