The MCG’s chief curator has admitted staff went “too far” in preparing a pitch that favored the bowlers too heavily during the Boxing Day Test, saying he was in a “state of shock” as he watched the match unfold.
But the stadium’s director has stood by the under-fire curator after the Test match between Australia and England ended in two days.
Cricket Australia is bracing for a heavy financial loss as a result of the match, just a month after the Ashes opener in Perth also ended with three days to spare.
It is the first time in 129 years that the same series has had multiple two-day tests.
Millions of dollars in refunds will be handed out to customers who bought tickets for day three, which sold out and could have attracted a third consecutive audience of more than 90,000.
Matthew Page, the Melbourne Cricket Club’s chief curator, left 10mm of grass on the pitch, compared to 7mm last year when Australia famously defeated India late on day five.
“We’re trying to balance the match between bat and ball over the four or five days, to provide that compelling test for everyone,” Page told a press conference at the MCG on Sunday.
“We left it longer because we knew we would make it [hot] again at the back that we knew we needed our grass [for].
“You look back at it and you say, ‘Well, it was too much in favor of the bowlers on day one and two’.
“If that doesn’t happen, we will have prepared well for days three and four.”
The pitch was treacherous for both sides to bat on, with batters struggling with the lateral movement of the ball with a wobbly seam.
“If we don’t have seam movement here at the MCG we become very dull, lifeless and very flat, which is not good for the players, not good for the spectators and not good for the game,” Page said.
“So for us it’s about providing that seam movement. We went too far with this and we’re obviously very disappointed that it only lasts two days.”
Page said he was “in shock” when he saw the match unfold on the first day. “It was a rollercoaster ride of two days,” he says. “We will learn from it, we will grow from it, we will get better at it.”
The pitch even led to criticism from fast bowling greats such as Stuart Broad, Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee that it was unfair to batters.
England captain Ben Stokes, even after achieving his country’s first Test victory in Australia in 15 years, criticized the pitch for being too heavily in favor of bowlers.
“Being brutally honest, that’s not really what you want,” Stokes said. “Boxing Day Test match, you don’t want a match to end in two days. Not ideal.”
But MCC boss Stuart Fox said he had full confidence in Page and his ground staff.
Page was poached from the WACA after the MCG ground was given a poor rating when just 24 wickets fell over five days in an uneventful 2017 draw.
Fox suggested that not all the blame should fall on Page, saying aggressive batting also contributed to the landslide of wickets.
“We acquired Matt eight years ago because he is considered one of the best in the country, if not the best,” Fox said.
“I still believe that, and I always will.
“He has done a great job; he and his team have worked tirelessly to get this right.
“You can see he is disappointed. He carries that responsibility and it is my job as a leader to support people.”
“If you believe in your people, stand behind them and support them, and I know he will respond.”
Australian star Travis Head, who scored the highest score in the match with 46, said he felt sorry for Page.
“I feel for him, it’s damn hard,” Head said on Sunday.
“You leave one or two millimeters of grass behind with high-quality bowling, and you find yourself short, and you take off two or three millimeters with high-quality batting, and you go the other way.”
Australia and England will get three extra days to prepare for the fifth and final Test at the SCG, which starts on January 4.
With Australian Associated Press
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