The Ashes 25/26

[Jim05]

MCG pitch to get an “unsatisfactory” rating and receive 1 demerit point

[The Dark Knight]

MCG pitch to get an “unsatisfactory” rating and receive 1 demerit point

Under the ICC's four-tier pitch-rating system, "unsatisfactory" is the third ranking and characterises a pitch that "does not allow an even contest between bat and ball… by favouring the bowlers too much, with too many wicket-taking opportunities for either seam or spin". The MCG pitch had received the highest "very good" rating for the past three Boxing Day Tests.

"The MCG pitch was too much in favour of the bowlers," Crowe said. "With 20 wickets falling on the first day, 16 on the second day and no batter even reaching a half-century, the pitch was 'unsatisfactory' as per the guidelines and the venue gets one demerit point."

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/ashe ... ry-1517468

Gus Atkinson also ruled out of the Sydney Test with that left hamstring injury joining Archer and Wood on the England injury list. Matt Potts, Matt Fisher or potentially Shoaib Bashir are the options to replace him.

[jackpot jim]

I found it interesting that the curator said he kept it long due to the warm forecast on Day 4 & 5, why worry about those days when the pitch will be deteriorating by then anyway?

Found his comments and reasoning quite puzzling.
It's like he was trying to play God and get the pitch to last in good nick through to Day 5
The whole idea of a 5 day Test is that the pitch deteriorates as the match progresses due to weather conditions and wear and tear and becomes difficult for the batsmen.
He's basically prepared the pitch upside down to make it very difficult for the batsmen early in the match and for it to be playing well late into the match
The gamble backfired with the result being a very expensive clusterf**k. admittedly with the help of some loose batting.
I also question him if he had any thought for spin bowlers? 3 out of 4 Tests selectors and Captains have basically ignored spin. Dont think thats the road we want to be going down especially that we're struggling to see 80 overs in a day let alone the required 90

[am Bays]

Nailed it JJ