An MCG pitch labelled the flattest in Australia is proving true to form in the Boxing Day Test, with Jimmy Anderson declaring it unworthy of the iconic clash.
England’s hopes of restoring some pride after surrendering the Ashes urn took a major hit on Tuesday morning when Steve Smith won his first toss of the series and elected to bat.
Australia raced to 0-102 at lunch, with centurion David Warner taking full advantage of a road of a pitch that was quickly derided within the cricketing fraternity.
The game slowed to a grind in a middle session with Australia adding just 43 runs before reaching 3-244 at stumps.
Both sides had been anticipating a flat deck but England paceman Anderson said it was far from ideal for the crowd of 88,172.
“People want to see entertaining cricket, especially in an iconic Test match like the Boxing Day Test match at the MCG,” he said.
“I know it wasn’t exciting to watch. It wasn’t exciting to play in, to be honest, when it’s that attritional. But there’s not a lot we can do about it from here.”
Test great Shane Warne earlier said the pitch was as flat as he’d seen at the MCG, while Ed Cowan joked the groundsman “thought there was a BBL game going on”.
The MCG’s recent history suggests England’s torment is likely to continue, particularly with offspinner Moeen Ali out of form.
Australia posted massive totals in blowout victories over Pakistan and the West Indies in the past two Boxing Day Tests and played out a high-scoring draw with India in 2014.
All three Sheffield Shield games played at the MCG so far this season have failed to produce a result.
Josh Hazlewood last week described the wicket as the flattest in Australia.
“It’s quite evenly paced, there’s no real sideways movement, no real swing and it doesn’t spin much,” the Australian seamer said.
Acting MCG curator Michael Salvatore defended the drop-in wicket before the Test, saying he was confident a result would be produced.
“We’ve had drop-ins here for 19 years and we’ve only had one draw … we’ve got no concerns about that at all,” he said.
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