After 20 wickets fell on Day 1 of the fourth Ashes Test between Australia and England at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, the pitch used for the Test has come under scrutiny, with multiple former cricketers criticising the strip for “doing too much.” Former England cricketer Stuart Broad joined the chorus and slammed the pitch, saying that “great Test match pitches don’t jag all over the place.”
“The pitch is doing too much, if I’m brutally honest. Test match bowlers don’t need this amount of movement to look threatening. Great Test matches pitches, generally, they bounce, but they don’t jag all over the place,” Broad said while commentating on SEN Radio.
After winning the toss, England opted to bowl first and bundled out Australia for just 152, where pacer Josh Tongue shone with the ball, registering a five-wicket haul. In return, the Australian pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Michael Neser and Scott Boland ripped through the English batting order, restricting them to just 110 runs to get a 42-run lead. Australia batted for just one over in the second innings and ended the day with a 46-run lead, as the opening day saw as many as 20 wickets falling.
Former England captain Alastair Cook said the bowlers didn’t have to work hard for their reward on the MCG surface. “The bowlers didn’t have to work hard for their wickets,” Cook said. “It was an unfair contest. I don’t know how you hit it [the ball]. If this flattens out tomorrow, then fine, it’s an even contest over three or four days. But I don’t think this is particularly even.”
‘England may get to bat when wicket is best suited for batters’
Former Australian pacer Glenn McGrath said that England may get to bat when the wicket is best suited for the batters in the fourth innings.
“That pitch has too much life in it for Test cricket. It was 10mm of grass when I think 7mm would have been better, but I think he [the groundsman] was more concerned with what was happening on days three, four and five. The weather is getting warmer, which will have an impact on the top of the rollers. So, it could get to the stage where England are batting in the fourth innings in the best batting conditions of the match,” McGrath said.
