With the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground ending in less than two days, it was also the second time in this year’s Ashes that a Test ended in less than two days. While the Perth Test in this series was the 26th Test match in Test history to finish in two days, the Boxing Day Test this week too joined the list. The previous time an Ashes Test finished in two days was in 1921, the first of the Ashes series between the two countries at Nottingham. England skipper was critical of the pitch post the match and alsovinayakk questioned if the same Test was anywhere else in the world, there would be ‘hell on’
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“Being brutally honest, that’s not really what you want. Boxing Day Test match. You don’t want a game finishing in less than two days. Not ideal. But you can’t change it once you start the game and you’ve just got to play what’s in front of you. But I’m pretty sure if that was somewhere else in the world, there’d be hell on. Not the best thing for games that should be played over five days. But we played a type of cricket that ended up getting the job done.” Stokes said post the match. When asked if he was referring to a same test happening in the sub-continent, Stokes replied vaguely. “It’s your words, not mine,” Stokes replied. The England captain also talked about his rating of the pitch to the match referee, which would not be the best. “It won’t be the best,” Stokes said.
The Boxing Day Test, which saw an all-time record attendance of 93,442 on the opening day on Friday, was the third-shortest Test ever in Australia. The Perth Test was the second shortest ever after the Melbourne Test between Australia and South Africa in 1932. In Ashes history, this year’s Boxing Day Test seeing a total of 852 balls is the tenth lowest in terms of balls bowled in Test with a result. England’s win by four wickets on Saturday was also England’s first Test win in Australia since 2011. Australian skipper Steve Smith also termed the MCG wicket as a ‘tricky one’
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“Obviously, it was a tricky one. Thirty-six wickets over two days, it probably offered just a little bit too much. It’s tough as a groundsman. I think he’s always looking for the right sort of balance, I suppose. Last year’s wicket was an outstanding one, it went to day five last session. In an ideal world, every wicket does that and it’s exciting for everyone. But yeah, maybe if you took it from 10 [millimetres] to eight, it would have been a nice, challenging wicket, maybe a little bit more even, I suppose. But groundsmen are always learning and yeah, he’ll probably take something from that, no doubt.” Smith told reporters.
No batsmen in the MCG Test could reach a score of 50. It was for the first time in Australia since 1932 where no batsman reached 50. With all the 20 wickets being taken by pacers in the Test, Smith also spoke about how Australia thought about playing with an all-pace attack at MCG. “A lot of the wickets we’re playing on now, I think spin has been … it’s the easiest thing to face on some of these wickets that are offering a lot of seam,” Smith said. “It’s almost to the point where, why would you bowl it when you could leak 30 or 40 runs quickly if they decide to play positively, and the game shifts immediately? Obviously at Perth Stadium, we barely bowled spin, two overs maybe. We didn’t bowl a spinner in the pink-ball Test. And last week [in Adelaide] was obviously a different one. There was quite a dry surface and it offered some rough which was a nice wicket. And then this one, spin didn’t look like getting a chance to bowl. So I don’t know whether it’s something that can be spoken about. I love seeing spinners play a part in the game, but right now, why would you?” Smith said.
