MCG Pitch Receives Official Warning from ICC Over 'Poor' Pitch

The International Cricket Council (ICC), on Friday (January 12), issued an official warning to the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) concerning the ‘poor’ rating given to the pitch for the fourth Ashes Test played at the venue from 26-30 December 2017.

The game at the iconic venue was the only match of the five-Test series that failed to produce a result, as only 24 wickets fell across five days while more than 1,000 runs were scored.

ICC Match Referee Ranjan Madugalle gave the pitch the ‘poor’ rating in his official report after it drew widespread criticism including players from both competing teams. The hosts scored 327 and 263-4 declared at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, either side of England’s 491, as the game ended in a meek draw.

“It didn’t change for five days, and I would say that if it was played on for the next couple of days, it probably wouldn’t change either. It needs to find a way to have pace and bounce or spin. We saw some reverse swing, but the ball gets soft and doesn’t carry,” Steven Smith had said.

It is the first time an Australian international pitch has been rated poorly. Meanwhile, ICC’s sanction came after it reviewed Cricket Australia’s response.

“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,” the ICC stated in a release.

The MCG Test also became the last Test to be rated under the old ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring regulations, with a revised process getting introduced from 4 January 2018. According to the new rules, a ground could get stripped of the right to host international fixtures for two years if it accumulates ten demerit points.

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