The MCG wicket

[Tim Whatley]

Apart from Victorians does anyone really care about boxing day at the G? Give it to the WACA or bellerive. Grounds with a decent wicket

 

[Keys]

A perfect test wicket would have a bit of life in it on day one to encourage quicks, flatten out over days 2 and 3 which should be the best for batting until it breaks up over days 4 and 5 giving spinners something to work with

I'd suggest there was a bit in the pitch on day 1 but the Indian quicks weren't able to take advantage. The pitch has been good for batting today and yesterday as it should and it will be interesting to see how it holds up over the next two days

I don't think the pitch is that bad and I'm not sure the wicket should be blamed for sub standard bowling on day one or for poor catching which would have seen more wickets on day 3

People forget that a test lasts five days so there should be periods when bat dominates ball. Wait until the test is over before making judgements on the pitch

 

[Caesar]

There was precious little in it on day 1. I don't have an issue with a track that's good for batting mid-Test, but the G is always spongy and slow even before it flattens out. Plus it never seems to deteriorate very much on days 4 and 5 the way the other grounds do.

I wouldn't exactly call it a road, it does have that variable bounce, but it's a very boring and characterless deck. Makes for fairly insipid Test matches, even if it does provide results.

 

[Martyn_30_]

There's been one draw at the mcg since it's become a drop in pitch and this game isn't a draw either but who cares about facts, at the mcg no batsmen score runs or any bowlers take wickets.

 

[Messenger]

Apart from Victorians does anyone really care about boxing day at the G? Give it to the WACA or bellerive. Grounds with a decent wicket

I imagine Cricket Australia quite like getting 170k odd to the first three days.

It's a road, but hardly representative of recent drop ins in Melbourne. 7/360 odd on Day Three says the batsmen were set but we dropped catche's and bowled garbage.

And let's not forget some of the awful pitches Melbourne produced in the 80's pre drop in.

 

[The Passenger]

More than anything for me, it's a bit of a nothing wicket. Not really quick, bouncy, but it's also not really much of a turner. So overall doesn't offer much for the bowlers, but at the same time it's not overly great for batting. You can definitely make runs, as we've seen in this test, but with the lack of pace you don't get full value for your shots.

Those sort of wickets it's a bit like playing cricket with a squash ball.

 

[Messenger]

More than anything for me, it's a bit of a nothing wicket. Not really quick, bouncy, but it's also not really much of a turner. So overall doesn't offer much for the bowlers, but at the same time it's not overly great for batting. You can definitely make runs, as we've seen in this test, but with the lack of pace you don't get full value for your shots.

Those sort of wickets it's a bit like playing cricket with a squash ball.

I was there today; I'd say Kohli and Rahane got full value for their shots. Helped by some reprehensible bowling from Johnson and Hazelwood.

 

[The Passenger]

I was there today; I'd say Kohli and Rahane got full value for their shots. Helped by some reprehensible bowling from Johnson and Hazelwood.

From the bits I saw today they did bat well, and Smith on Day 2 was also excellent. But you'll always get a few guys who look good, that's just the nature of the game. But for the most part these wickets aren't really great for either batting or bowling. There's certainly runs to be had, but it's often a grind.

Sort of wickets that get dished up in grade cricket all the time. It was always more enjoyable playing on ones with a bit more pace and bounce.

 

[Messenger]

From the bits I saw today they did bat well, and Smith on Day 2 was also excellent. But you'll always get a few guys who look good, that's just the nature of the game. But for the most part these wickets aren't really great for either batting or bowling. There's certainly runs to be had, but it's often a grind.

Sort of wickets that get dished up in grade cricket all the time. It was always more enjoyable playing on ones with a bit more pace and bounce.

They did better than bat well. They were exceptional.

It's not what you'd want to see at the MCG every year, but it's hardly unprecedented at Test or shield level.

 

[JC Hawks]

Apart from Victorians does anyone really care about boxing day at the G? Give it to the WACA or bellerive. Grounds with a decent wicket

Stupid comment mate. Boxing day test gets the best crowd numbers and would make CA the most money. Also traditional to hold the boxing day test in Melbourne.

 

[Caesar]

Boxing Day Tests aren't really that traditional. It's only been a regular fixture since the 80s, IIRC.

 

[The Passenger]

First time test cricket was played at the MCG on boxing day was in 1950 with the test starting on December 22. First time boxing day was the first day of a test at the G was 1968 and it become a regular fixture in 1980, although not always the first day was played on boxing day. A few times since then day one has been played prior to Christmas with a rest day on Christmas Day. The last time that happened was the Ashes test of 1994 which begun on Christmas Eve. That was also Warne's hat trick test.

Prior to that the first test played after Christmas is usually (but not always) the Melbourne test, but generally did not start until at least December 29 or later.

Sydney has seen play on Boxing Day once in 1924 when a timeless test that started on Dec 19 ran beyond Christmas.

 

[Underarm]

And before that, Victoria and New South Wales played Boxing Day.

Pitch is a bit dull, but it will provide a result without resorting to multiple declarations, and we've seen some great batting, and some solid patches of intense bowling to go with it. Should be a cracking last 2 days

 

[BluesMan]

Its a boring pitch thus far

 

[Pera]

17 of the 18 drop in pitches at the MCG have seen a result on Boxing Day.

I hate this argument.

Adelaide and the MCG often have results but the quality of cricket is quite dour for three or four days of the test. How I'd love to see a spicy pitch on the morning of Day 1, actually providing something for seamers rather than the 500 plays 500 first innings totals we see time after time.

 

[The Passenger]

I hate this argument.

Adelaide and the MCG often have results but the quality of cricket is quite dour for three or four days of the test. How I'd love to see a spicy pitch on the morning of Day 1, actually providing something for seamers rather than the 500 plays 500 first innings totals we see time after time.

The other thing is Adelaide has been a draw 3 of it's last 8 tests. Brisbane 2 of it's last 8 with one of them losing an entire day to rain. No other ground has had a draw in that same time period.

 

[Keys]

Boxing Day Tests aren't really that traditional. It's only been a regular fixture since the 80s, IIRC.

So more traditional than the ANZAC day game then

 

[The Speaker]

So more traditional than the ANZAC day game then

That reference might be lost on our favourite Roman.

 

[western royboy]

With how it looked on day 1 I'm sad it's stayed a road. I know absolutely nothing about how they make wickets but could it be because the ground was quite wet before the test started? The outfield was super slow on the 1st day so it would've soaked through a bit.

No nothing to do with the outfield, drop in pitches are prepared off site and then dropped in at the end of the footy season. The roots don't have a chance to dig in as such to the rest of the surface, they have heaps of grass on them that when prepared just turn out to be pretty good straw batting wickets that stick together and don't break up like a normal pitch would. When finished with they just die off which is not a problem because they get ripped out at the end of the season.

A drop on will never match the characteristics of a permanent block of pitches.

 

[Messenger]

No nothing to do with the outfield, drop in pitches are prepared off site and then dropped in at the end of the footy season. The roots don't have a chance to dig in as such to the rest of the surface, they have heaps of grass on them that when prepared just turn out to be pretty good straw batting wickets that stick together and don't break up like a normal pitch would. When finished with they just die off which is not a problem because they get ripped out at the end of the season.

A drop on will never match the characteristics of a permanent block of pitches.

This is true and they seem to hold together. Drop in pitches have improved markedly since they use began, but there will never be a time where MCG cricket goes back to a traditional set up, especially given the number of matches at the MCG is only likely to reduce with time.

 

[Gough]

Still a chance for a result half way through the last session, why is this a bad pitch? Same with Adelaide, game over in the last hour on the last day, how can that be a bad thing?

 

[Scotland]

The test just feels a bit samey, like there's no discernible difference between the first session on day one and the third session on day 5.

Obviously the pitch has deteriorated a bit, but there is an hour left and it's hardly a minefield out there.

 

[western royboy]

The test just feels a bit samey, like there's no discernible difference between the first session on day one and the third session on day 5.

Obviously the pitch has deteriorated a bit, but there is an hour left and it's hardly a minefield out there.

That's the thing it started like a day 2-3 pitch and possibly got to a day 4 pitch. These pitches just don't deteriorate like a normal block would. Same for Sheffield Shield.

 

[Scotland]

That's the thing it started like a day 2-3 pitch and possibly got to a day 4 pitch. These pitches just don't deteriorate like a normal block would. Same for Sheffield Shield.

Yep, and the most exciting periods of test matches are day 1 when the ball is seaming around and/or flying off the bat and day 5 when there is uneven bounce, turn etc. and batting is all about survival.

 

[Bomberboyokay]

"Drop in pitches are shit" is 'traditionalist' myth.