The head pitch curator at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Matthew Page reveals that he was "in a state of shock" as both Australia and England were bowled out on Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test. As opposed to the 7mm grass left for the previous year's game, Page opted to leave 10mm of grass. But, it turned out to be a nightmare for batters. The curator hopes he is never involved in a Test match like the one where Australia lost by four wickets within two days.
"I was in a state of shock after the first day," Page told the press at the MCG on December 28.
"We're obviously disappointed it's gone two days. We produced a Test that was captivating, but it hasn't gone long enough. We'll learn from that and make sure we get it right next year."
"I've never been involved in a Test match like it and hopefully I'm not involved in a Test match like it again."
Page’s reasons for leaving extra grass
While England registered their first win on the tour at the MCG, skipper Ben Stokes described the pitch conditions as ‘hell’.
"We know this hasn't gone as we planned. We're trying to balance that contest between bat and ball throughout, over the four or five days, to provide that captivating Test for all," Page said.
In his defense, Page explained why the decision to leave extra grass was taken.
"We left it longer because we knew we were going to get (hot) weather at the back end that we knew we needed our grass (for). You look back at it and you go, 'well, it’s favoured the bowlers too much days one and two'.
"If that doesn't happen, then we set ourselves up really good for day three and four," Page added.
The two-day Test led to a huge monetary loss for Cricket Australia. While the pitch curator has been copping heat from current and former players, Australia opener Travis Head came to his aide.
"I feel for him. It's bloody tough. You leave 1 or 2mm on with high-quality bowling, you find yourself short, or you take 2 or 3mm with high-quality batting and you leave yourself the other way," Head said.
"Everyone wants to see someone win. Everyone wants to see wickets. No one wants to see a bloke get 300. There needs to be a balance, and sometimes we're going to see the balance, like last week (the third Test in Adelaide) err to the batters, and some weeks we're going to see it err to the bowlers."
The fifth and final Test of the series will begin on January 4 at Sydney Cricket Ground.