Matthew Page, the head curator of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, has conceded that the pitch for the Boxing Day Test was too heavily weighted in favour of bowlers, leading to the match finishing within two days. Page left 10mm of grass on the pitch, up from 7mm last year, in anticipation of hot weather later in the Test.
“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 told a press conference. “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’.”
Page said he was in a “state of shock” watching the match unfold. The pitch drew criticism from fast-bowling greats Stuart Broad, Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee, as well as England captain Ben Stokes, who said: “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.”
Cricket Australia faces a heavy financial loss, with millions of dollars in refunds for day-three tickets, which had been sold out. It is the first time in 129 years that a series has featured multiple two-day Tests.
Despite the backlash, MCC chief executive Stuart Fox expressed full support for Page, who was hired eight years ago after the MCG pitch received a poor rating in 2017. “We bought Matt on eight years ago because he’s considered one of the best in the country, if not the best,” Fox said. “I still believe that, and I always will.”
Australia batter Travis Head, who top-scored with 46, sympathised with Page. “I feel for him, it’s bloody tough,” Head said. “You leave one or two millimetres [of grass] on with high quality bowling, and you find yourself short, and you take two or three mills off with high quality batting, and you go the other way.” The teams now have an extra three days to prepare for the fifth Test at the SCG starting 4 January.
