Boxing Day pitch fiasco: MCG curator in ‘state of shock’ at two-day Test finish

Melbourne Cricket Ground head curator Matthew Page confessed he was “in a state of shock” after 20 wickets fell on the opening day of the Boxing Day Test, admitting that the pitch was heavily in favour of the bowlers.

Page opted to leave 10mm of grass — up from 7mm last year when Australia famously beat India late on day five. But the decision backfired as 36 wickets fell in just 142 overs across six sessions and England went on to defeat Australia by four wickets late on day two on Saturday.

“I was in a state of shock after the first day,” Page told the press at the MCG on Sunday.

“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.” Despite winning the match, England’s first Test win in Australia since 2011, captain Ben Stokes strongly criticised the overwhelmingly bowler-friendly pitch, saying such conditions elsewhere in the world would unleash “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.

Batters from both sides struggled with significant sideways movement generated by the wobble seam. Page said the extra grass was left on the pitch due to the hot weather forecast for days three and four.

“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.

More than 90,000 fans were expected for the sold-out third day. But the early finish, the second in the series, is likely to cost Cricket Australia (CA) over AUD 10 million.

While several former players slammed the pitch, Australia opener Travis Head, whose second-innings 46 was the highest score of the match, he felt for Page and his team.

“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.”