Test The Ashes Fourth Test December 26-30 1000hrs @ The MCG

[1990crow]

In 2017-18 it was a total pudding.

In 2018-19 it was just flat.

In 2024-25 it was sporting, but still possible to make good totals on.

In 2025-26 we now apparently have extravagant seam movement.

The thing that puzzles me is that the GABBA 2022/23 & SCG 2024/25 pitches both facilitated considerable seam movement AND had more even bounce to boot, and yet neither led to 20 wicket days (the former came close, though). What gives?

There was some ordinary batting and some very good bowling, but surely that wasn't the only reason?

Probably less bowled and lbw, more plays and misses passed the edge?

 

[1990crow]

Yeah, I have no frame of reference for how many degrees of movement makes it "flat", "difficult to bat on", whatever.

But I suppose Adelaide on day 1 being flat and having 0.5 degrees of movement, and Perth being sporting (but not difficult to bat on, maybe slightly on the bowler side of friendly) being 0.66. Then Melbourne being 0.83 means the difference between it and Perth in terms of day 1 seam movement is approximately similar to Perth and Adelaide.

That is, Melbourne is harder to bat on at a similar amount that Perth was hard to bat on compared to Adelaide.

It seems to me that maybe 0.6-0.65 degrees of movement is ideal for a day 1 pitch that should deteriorate for day 5, so clearly 0.83 is ridiculous.

I think you'll find shield cricketers think it's way too difficult to bat at the mcg. Been like this for 10 years.

 

[DaRick]

Probably less bowled and lbw, more plays and misses passed the edge?

Actually makes sense.

Would love to have a pitch comparison between this pitch, the 2022/23 GABBA pitch and the 2024/25 SCG pitch.

See how much seam movement there was, how much uneven bounce there was and more importantly, where it seamed and bounced.

There's a difference between seaming so much that many deliveries could be left alone, and seaming just enough to require batsmen to play.

This pitch would generally fall into the latter category, I suspect.

 

[1990crow]

Actually makes sense.

Would love to have a pitch comparison between this pitch, the 2022/23 GABBA pitch and the 2024/25 SCG pitch.

See how much seam movement there was, how much uneven bounce there was and more importantly, where it seamed and bounced.

There's a difference between seaming so much that many deliveries could be left alone, and seaming just enough to require batsmen to play.

This pitch would generally fall into the latter category, I suspect.

Trust me it's pretty annoying when you consistently beat the bat only for it to bounce a foot over the stumps. Makes for better cricket though.
If you're having balls from a length or more hitting it means the pitch is playing too low.

 

[HitTheNailOnTheHead]

This over from Flintoff in 2005 was memorable, he bowled Langer and dismissed Ponting and Benaud was still commentating.

Most batsmen without their eye in would have missed that by miles. Ponting was so good he got some bat on it. Just not enough.

 

[thistimeforsure]

Quick games a good game

Good game

Boo hoo to all the boring old retired farts going the gripe

“ back in my day if you hit one of the square before lunch on the first day the skipper would make you run 5 laps buck naked with a king brown full of wasps jammed up your clacker “

 

[kozi]

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

Quick games a good game

Good game

Boo hoo to all the boring old retired farts going the gripe

“ back in my day if you hit one of the square before lunch on the first day the skipper would make you run 5 laps buck naked with a king brown full of wasps jammed up your clacker “

"Hit one of the square"? What does that even mean?

 

[010203]

Used to look forward to switching on the South Africa Boxing Day test after coming back from the G on Boxing Day. Another one of life’s little pleasures that is no more.

They'll host one against England next year I believe.

 

[MC Bad Genius]

"The other was Rob Key’s pre‑match state-of-the-nation address in the bowels of the MCG, a rambling performance that seemed to fall apart even as the words emerged, with a sense by the end of an international sports team being managed by a stack of cardboard boxes with a hat on top, a complex two-month tour planned by the administrative equivalent of a well-meaning jar of marmalade ...

... Key talked this week about “creating an environment” for players such as Bethell to succeed. Oh yeah? With this in mind you wondered here how different an environment designed specifically for him to fail would look? Blindfold him? Replace his bat with a sourdough baguette? Send him out covered in ants?"

Haha, brilliant!

Those two paragraphs are definitely the highlights, but the whole article is worth a read:

Auf Wiedersehen, pets: Duckett and Bethell were (briefly) back in town but failings lie at the top | Barney Ronay

No rational judge could have expected England’s fall guys to succeed at the MCG where they were thrown on to a festive bonfire by a lack of red-ball cricket and a slack set-up

www.theguardian.com

 

[Plugger35]

Rob Key got bowled by Damien Martyn in the 2002 Ashes test at the WACA, I was there and it was like Dennis Lillee was back.

He also top scored in the one innings Australia played in that test and won the Player of the Match.

Four years later he quit during the Ashes series after the Adelaide test and before the next WACA test with no explanation for it.

He was an enigma.

 

[sabso]

"The other was Rob Key’s pre‑match state-of-the-nation address in the bowels of the MCG, a rambling performance that seemed to fall apart even as the words emerged, with a sense by the end of an international sports team being managed by a stack of cardboard boxes with a hat on top, a complex two-month tour planned by the administrative equivalent of a well-meaning jar of marmalade ...

... Key talked this week about “creating an environment” for players such as Bethell to succeed. Oh yeah? With this in mind you wondered here how different an environment designed specifically for him to fail would look? Blindfold him? Replace his bat with a sourdough baguette? Send him out covered in ants?"

Haha, brilliant!

Those two paragraphs are definitely the highlights, but the whole article is worth a read:

Auf Wiedersehen, pets: Duckett and Bethell were (briefly) back in town but failings lie at the top | Barney Ronay

No rational judge could have expected England’s fall guys to succeed at the MCG where they were thrown on to a festive bonfire by a lack of red-ball cricket and a slack set-up

www.theguardian.com

I wanted to find a clip of Brad Scott’s speech to the bombers dressing room in front of a load of oap premiership legends but it appears to have been scrubbed from the internet

 

[240volt]

Welcome to my world…doesn’t happen anymore.

Do whatever feels comfy but don’t forget to slog as many thru the leg side as you can, before you miss the inevitable straight one.

Yep that’s the way we got taught at school. Keep bat and pad close together, if you got hit on the pad you might get away with a LBW appeal but you leave a gap and it hits the stumps your fked

 

[RookiePick]

"Hit one of the square"? What does that even mean?

It's clearly a typo of "Hit one off the square."

The barest modicum of cricket knowledge should have got you there.

5 laps of the oval for you and here's your king brown full of wasps. You know what to do with it!

 

[240volt]

Quick games a good game

Good game

Boo hoo to all the boring old retired farts going the gripe

“ back in my day if you hit one of the square before lunch on the first day the skipper would make you run 5 laps buck naked with a king brown full of wasps jammed up your clacker “

Very much the Greig Chappell way of batting. Playing only in the arch between mid off and mid on until you get your eye in.
A bit different to Harry Brook’s first ball.

 

[Dipper]

There's loads of things England have got wrong but possibly the most damning is not knowing what they have amongst their own ranks.

In the first test they picked 4 quicks and Stokes.

I said to my pals, there's no way that all 4 of those bowlers should be picked ahead of Tongue, he's got more skills than at least 3 of the 4 and he bowls the right length, which the others don't do. It took them until the third test to pick him, then only because the rest ballsed it up.

You can then add Ollie Robinson into that, they're not good enough to leave out a bowler who averages less than 23. He knows the length too.

They don't have great options but not selecting the best of what you do have is criminal.

You can probably add Rehan Ahmed into that, he can bat a bit, he's a leggie, and he's got a bit about him. He should have been locked in at the start.

Obviously nothing will make up for the top 3 but not understanding your own options is unforgivable.

 

[sabso]

There's loads of things England have got wrong but possibly the most damning is not knowing what they have amongst their own ranks.

In the first test they picked 4 quicks and Stokes.

I said to my pals, there's no way that all 4 of those bowlers should be picked ahead of Tongue, he's got more skills than at least 3 of the 4 and he bowls the right length, which the others don't do. It took them until the third test to pick him, then only because the rest ballsed it up.

You can then add Ollie Robinson into that, they're not good enough to leave out a bowler who averages less than 23. He knows the length too.

They don't have great options but not selecting the best of what you do have is criminal.

You can probably add Rehan Ahmed into that, he can bat a bit, he's a leggie, and he's got a bit about him. He should have been locked in at the start.

Obviously nothing will make up for the top 3 but not understanding your own options is unforgivable.

That’s on rob key. His list management makes norths look almost competent.

 

[BStaff17]

Australian tests average around 3.5 days now & this one will be below average.

‘I’m not liking what I’m seeing’: MCG pitch under fire as 20 wickets fall on chaotic opening day

Former Test greats said the grassy surface had tipped the balance too far in favour of the bowlers in the Boxing Day Test, after both Australia and England were all out on day one.

www.theage.com.au

There has been a shift since Cummins took over as captain in 21/22 with bowler friendly pitches across the country.

I am not blaming cummins here either but its just facts.

 

[Australian Randall]

How many of the 20 wickets today were to unplayable deliveries?
Absolutely none of them
The narrative about the pitch is bullshit
It really isn't that bad
They just have such awful technique

 

[Bucking Beads]

How many of the 20 wickets today were to unplayable deliveries?
Absolutely none of them
The narrative about the pitch is bullshit
It really isn't that bad
They just have such awful technique

Absolutely. It's not even about technique more so shot selection and the idea that we can build an innings rather than slog our way out of every situation.

 

[Mick F]

This isn’t good for Test cricket, they had to do something because Tests at one point were to in favour of the batsmen but it’s now too far in the other direction.

Half decent sportsmen, with even modest intellects, adapt to differing conditions and opponents.

 

[OhhhhhCyril]

Ok fellas, admit it, how many of you were in line post game at the dirty royal.. do you have any idea how long I had to line up for a 6:30 show … unbelievable

 

[Mick F]

Probably less bowled and lbw, more plays and misses passed the edge?

Agree. Additionally - batting, one ball and you are out. Standard deviations and averages don’t really work (at times).

 

[Osho]

Ok fellas, admit it, how many of you were in line post game at the dirty royal.. do you have any idea how long I had to line up for a 6:30 show … unbelievable View attachment 2501950

That's me, 7th from the right.

 

[Jack Lord]

Of all the day one stumps scores in this series this is the first time we’ve been ahead of the game.