Melbourne/New Delhi: The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Friday was slapped with an official warning by the ICC for preparing “poor” pitch for the Boxing Day Test between Australia and England.
The fourth Test of the Ashes series was held between 26-30 December and was the lone Test in the 5-match Test series which failed to produce a result after five days of cricket.
This is for the first time that an Australian pitch has been rated poor. Three tons were scored in the match including 244 by England batsman Alastair Cook. Only 24 wickets were taken by the bowlers during the entire duration of the Test.
“In arriving at the sanction, the ICC noted the comprehensive response provided by Cricket Australia, which did not contest the rating given to the pitch by the ICC Match Referee, Ranjan Madugalle, but highlighted that the ground is a frequently used venue that has no history of preparing poor pitches for international cricket, and indicated that there was a commitment by both the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) and Cricket Australia to improve the pitches presented for international cricket at the MCG in the future” stated the ICC press release.