The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), which is hosting the fourth Test of the Ashes series, has been declared ‘substandard’ by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
The pitch for the fourth Test match of the Ashes series that ended in two days in Melbourne was substandard and the venue was given a poor rating by the ICC.
After inspecting the pitch, Jeff Crowe, a member of the ICC’s elite panel of match referees, decided that the pitch was too difficult for the batsmen and too helpful for the bowlers.
According to him, 20 wickets fell on the first day of the match and 16 on the second day and none of the batsmen could reach a half-century, which makes the field sub-standard as per ICC guidelines.
Note that in this Test match, England won the toss and decided to bowl first and the bowlers restricted the Australian batsmen to 152 runs, while the English team scored 110 runs in 30 overs on the first day.
In the second innings, Australia managed to score 132 runs, England reached their target in 32.2 overs with the loss of 6 wickets.
The Test ended in just two days, with 36 wickets for a total of 142 runs and no batsman reaching 50 runs.
Australia have already won the Ashes series 3-0 by winning the first three Tests, while the fifth and final Test of the series will be played in Sydney from January 4.
