The pitch at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) was deemed as 'unsatisfactory' by the International Cricket Council (ICC) after the Boxing Day Test got concluded within two days. A total of 20 wickets fell on the opening day of the Test and that was followed by 16 wickets falling on the second day. The tracked proved to be a nightmare for the batters as no one was able to register a half-century and both Australia and England failed to score a total of over 200 runs in the match.
The rating was given by Jeff Crowe, who was the match referee and is also a member of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees. He explained the reason why he deemed the pitch as unsatisfactory and revealed that it has also been handed a demerit point.
“The MCG pitch was too much in favour of the bowlers. With 20 wickets falling on the first day, 16 on the second day and no batter even reaching a half-century, the pitch was ‘Unsatisfactory’ as per the guidelines and the venue gets one demerit point," Crowe said.
How did the match unfold?
Coming to the match, England went on to bundle out Australia for 152 runs after inviting them to bat first on Day 1. Josh Tongue proved to be the star performers for the visitors, recording figures of 5/45. However, the hosts fought back brilliantly and bowled out Ben Stokes & Co. for just 110 runs in their first innings. Both Michael Neser and Scott Boland gave superb performances, racking up figures of 4/45 and 3/30 respectively.
England record memorable victory
Aujstralia had the chance to give England a formidable total to chase on the daunting MCG track. However, their batters failed once again as Brydon Carse and Ben Stokes clinched four and three wickets to bundle out their opponents for only 132 runs. They were only able to set up a target of 175 that was eventually chased down by the Three Lions with four scalps left to spare on Day 2. This was their first Test win on Australian soil since 2011 and it ensured that the hosts will not be able to inflict a clean sweep on them.