Melbourne Cricket Ground chief curator Matthew Page admitted he was in a “state of shock” after 20 wickets fell on the first day of the Boxing Day (December 26) Test between Australia and England, and a fast bowler-friendly pitch was prepared to avoid a dull draw. The match saw a flurry of wickets from start to finish, ending in two days. England defeated Australia by four wickets.
Page, the curator appointed to revamp the MCG pitch after the 2017 Ashes series ended in a dreary draw, admitted on Sunday that leaving 10mm of grass on the pitch proved excessive. This resulted in the loss of 36 wickets in just 142 overs, raising eyebrows among players and officials alike.
Pitch curator was not expecting to see so many wickets in short duration
“I was in shock after the first day. We’re obviously disappointed that the match only lasted two days. It was an exciting Test match, but it didn’t last long. We’ll learn from this and try our best to prepare better wickets next year,” Page told reporters on Sunday.
He said, “I have never been part of a Test match like this before and I hope I will never be part of such a Test match again in the future.” England won its first Test match on Australian soil since 2011, but despite this, its captain Ben Stokes strongly criticized the pitch which was very favorable for the bowlers.
“We left the grass longer because we knew it was going to get warmer in the end, so we needed the grass. Looking back, it really benefited the bowlers on Day 1 and Day 2. If that hadn’t happened, it would have been a much better position for Day 3 and Day 4,” he said.
All tickets for the third day were sold out, but Cricket Australia is likely to lose more than 10 million Australian dollars due to the match ending inside two days for the second time in the series. While several former players criticized the pitch, Australian opener Travis Head expressed sympathy for Page and his team.
