The Boxing Day Test finished off in just a couple of days. The ball was swinging and seaming through the Test match, and at times was bouncing unevenly. Match referee Jeff Crowe has said the pitch was “unsatisfactory”. “The MCG pitch was too much in favour of the bowlers,” Crowe said. “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.”
However, CA’s chief of cricket, James Allsopp, was confident that the stadium would bounce back and deliver a better pitch for the 150th anniversary Test between England and Australia to be held in March 2027.
“We were disappointed for the fans holding tickets for days three and four, and also the millions of fans excited to watch the action in Australia and around the world, that the pitch did not provide the MCG’s customary balance between bat and ball,” Allsopp said.
England’s Brydon Carse, right, watches his shot that will have him out to Australia on Day 2 of their Ashes cricket test match in Melbourne, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Hamish Blair)
“We appreciate the outstanding work the MCC staff have done over recent years producing excellent Test match pitches.”
“We acknowledge the ICC’s rating of unsatisfactory for this year’s Boxing Day Test match pitch,” said chief executive Stuart Fox said. “Our team will continue to strive to produce excellent Test match pitches, as they have done for the last three years when they received top marks from the ICC.”
Curator Matthew Page admitted that he was in a state of shock over how the pitch his team had prepared played out. “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 said to the media. “We know this hasn’t gone as we planned. We will look at what we need to do to improve.”
Page said that while the Test match in itself was ‘captivating’, his team didn’t do enough to ensure that the game went on long enough. “I was in a state of shock after the first day,” said Page. “We’re obviously disappointed that 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.”
