Ashes 2017-18: ICC rates MCG surfaces ‘poor’ after it draws criticism

In what could be termed as the major blow for the world’s biggest cricket stadium Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Australia, the world cricket governing body International Cricket Council (ICC) has termed it ‘poor’ after the fourth Ashes Test between hosts and England saw the lifeless surface drawing the flak.

Pertinently the report was submitted by the Elite-level ICC Match Referee Ranjan Madugalle, who hails from Sri Lanka.

The nature of the pitch did not change over the five days and there was no natural deterioration,” Madugalle said in ICC’s press release.

Pertinent, the decision came on Tuesday (January 2) according to the Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process regulation the Board reacted to the decision after jointly focusing on the detailed report provided by the concerned authorities.

“As such, the pitch did not allow an even contest between the bat and the ball as it neither favoured the batsmen too much nor it gave the bowlers sufficient opportunity to take wickets,” Madugalle explained.

So much so, the fresh report has further asked the Cricket Australia (CA) to file a response in the space of two weeks after failing to comply with the set conditions while falling under the ambit of Dubai-based ICC.

Interestingly, MCG surface received the bad rating will further be the last stadium to be gauged under the Outfield Monitoring Process as, the fresh procedure is bound to come into the play on Thursday (January 4) which has already seen the Board working hard – to keep things up and running smoothly in the gentleman’s game.

“The bounce of the MCG pitch was medium, but slow in pace and got slower as the match progressed,” Madugalle maintained.

With Australia already leading the series with an unassailable lead of 3-0, the MCG Test ended on a draw as the fifth-day pitch went on to frustrate the visitors’ bowlers before hosts skipper Steven Smith smashed the third Test of the ongoing traditional series.

In first innings, Australia posted 327 runs which saw England in response registering 491 runs, before the hosts had pushed for a draw when they were 263 for four.

Moreover, both the captains shook hands earlier before the scheduled culmination of the Test after the counterparts agreed the result is not going to be around on a surface which has even made things difficult for the batsmen.

On the other side, the cricket officials from Australia had also expressed the concern in one way or another after Smith and Root questioned the quality of the surface being provided for the Boxing Day Test.

The MCG surface has the capacity of hosting round off 90,000 spectators, however, the stadium has also witnessed the great turnout in the stands, but thousands left during the game hours when they found there is nothing on an offer.

The freshly revised ratings would include the demerit points based on its shoddy conditions, as the report presented by match referees regarding the stadium will be meted out with the solitary demerit point if the venue did not comply under the regulations.

Apart from that if the surface would be deemed unfit for the playing conditions, it could receive the maximum five demerit points with the minimum of three in number.

The simple calculation of the five demerit points would lead to the suspension for a year one-year of the venue and subsequently two years if the venue would be termed substandard for the game.

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