England can certainly take heart from their performance at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the fourth Ashes Test.
Alastair Cook’s 244-not out and Stuart Broad’s all-round effort were highlights after Australia put up decent 327 on the back of a century from David Warner and half-centuries from Shaun Marsh and Steven Smith.
With the draw England have avoided the 5-0 whitewash, which was certainly looming over them going down 3-0. England bowled well in the first innings and put up a good show with the bat, but the second time around, on days four and five, the bowlers failed to pick up wickets.
It was not down to England not trying but rather due to the flat pitch that offered no spin. There was no movement off the pitch even on Day 1, nor and big reverse swing when the ball got older.
James Anderson called the pitch unworthy of a Boxing Day Test. In fact Josh Hazlewood went on to say it was the flattest wicket in the country. To back his claim, the three Sheffield Shield matches this season played at the MCG have not produced any result.
The crowd of 88,172 who came to watch cricket on Day 1 deserved much more than that, and that’s probably the reason the numbers dropped to 61,839 on Day 3 despite the match still being in the balance. The official attendance of 14,128 on the last day was a no-brainer, as the threat of rain and the likelihood of a draw do not make for a great contest.
(Michael Willson/AFL Media/Getty Images)
The medium-paced and fast bowlers really had to bend their backs to get the wickets on first two days, even for Nathan Lyon, who can take wickets on deserts.
But the profile of the pitch also affected the overall quality of the cricket, with England obviously having planned to bowl to either side of David Warner and Steve Smith in the second innings and wait for them to make a mistake.
Joe Root did get a birthday present when David Warner was caught out trying to slog one over the boundary, but Smith was unmoved, such is the form he’s in. Moeen Ali’s poor form and low confidence didn’t help, but at least there ought to be reverse swing on offer to help fast bowlers, which again was absent.
As spectators, you would want to see a good contest between bat and ball. Ideally it should provide some assistance for fast bowlers in the early mornings and as days go on. On days four and five it should assist spinners, with good batsmen able to successfully negate the challenge and get a big score. That’s why five-day cricket is called a Test cricket – it’s Test of your technique, character, teamwork and intelligence.
This Test wicket was just a pancake, as Geoff Boycott called it in the commentary box. You want it to be a bit like chess, where pawns, knights, rooks and bishops have some contributions in the final checkmate.
Definitely someone like Alastair Cook, who was one innings away from being dropped, such a flat track came as respite, and with Mitch Starc not in the squad to make him work for runs, he certainly had it a lot easier. His record against left arm hasn’t been very good. Zaheer Khan dismissed him nine times and Trent Boult troubled him a lot.
(Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
But the match belonged to Steven Smith, who got his 23rd Test hundred and along the way scored his 3000th runs in Australia at an average of 78. He now joins Don Bradman in having made four consecutive centuries at MCG – 192, 134 not out, 165 not out and 100 not out between 2014 and 2017.
Even in the post-match presentation the man of match, Alastair Cook, and the captains said how there was nothing in the pitch for bowlers and that they had exhausted all options on that front, and the physios have their work cut out to get bowlers fit and fresh for the Sydney Test – the workload bowlers endure over 50-odd overs in a Test match doesn’t help their bodies.
Given the shorter life span of cricketers and their packed schedules, you can’t fault players for picking the shortest format more often. Twenty20 matches last only three hours and are less taxing on the body, plus you earn twice the amount you get playing Test cricket. Mitch McClenaghan of New Zealand is good example, as is John Hastings from Australia or Lasith Malinga from Sri Lanka.
The MCG pitch was a poor one, and it is good to see Cricket Australia and the MCG admit it and commit to better pitches. It is this accountability that world cricket needs more of.
The MCG was not a great endorsement for Test cricket, and at a time when T20 threatens the existence of the five-day game, the administration, boards and pitch committees need to join hands to produce a sporting track. The Adelaide Oval pitch is certainly the best of the past few seasons in Australia, which gives equal chances to bat and bowl in the game.
England had their moment in the game, but rain, a docile track and Steve Smith denied them the win. Let’s hope England carry the same momentum in next Test and we get a mouthwatering contest. The crowd and the game of cricket deserves it.
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.
Marcus Stoinis produced his first IPL century and it was a beauty. He went 6, 4, 4, 4 to finish off the Lucknow Super…
Xavier Bartlett has been permission to extend his cricketing education with a spell of T20s in England, playing in the Blast competition for Kent…
Three-Test spinner Matthew Kuhnemann has signed with Tasmania in a bid for red-ball game time ahead of Australia's tour of Sri Lanka next summer.…
Last week, you read about the Matt XI, a compilation of the best cricketers ever to represent the name Matt. And to be fair,…
The Aussie needed every centimetre of his height and reach to reel that one in!
Royal Challengers Bengaluru needed 21 off the final over...but after three sixes, a caught and bowled and a run out, Mitchell Starc's Kolkata had…
