The Ashes 2025: SCG pitch fears sound alarm bells head of the first Test in Perth
The Ashes may start in Perth on Friday but on the other side of the country alarm bells are ringing over the preparation of one of Australia’s most celebrated icons.
The Ashes may start in Perth on Friday but on the other side of the country alarm bells are ringing over the preparation of one of Australia’s most celebrated icons.
Extreme pressure is mounting on SCG groundsman Adam Lewis to deliver a top-shelf pitch for the New Year’s Test after years of underperformance from the Sydney wicket.
Last summer’s Test pitch against India, which proved diabolical for batting and resulted in a two-and-a-half day match was labelled a “stinker” by Australian opener, Usman Khawaja and the “worst” former Test captain Michael Clarke had ever seen at his beloved old home ground.
The early finish cost the SCG and Cricket Australia millions of dollars in revenue with day four sold out, only to never arrive.
Lewis weathered that storm – aided somewhat by the International Cricket Council giving the pitch a “satisfactory” pass mark – but it’s understood he would risk losing further support with key cricket stakeholders if another imbalanced surface was rolled out for the Ashes this summer.
If the SCG pitch continues to underwhelm it will also feed into a theory that the famous ground will inevitably follow the lead of Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth and switch to drop-in wickets – and possibly yield more consistent results.
Eyebrows were raised again last week in the Sheffield Shield clash between NSW and Victoria at the SCG when the pitch was called “docile” by Mitchell Starc after day one only to deteriorate rapidly on day three, with cracks opening up and balls staying low.
In Lewis’ defence, the pitch was rated “good” by both captains and the primary factor in the match finishing inside three days was NSW’s inept batting performance.
Victorian coach Chris Rogers went as far to say he “liked the pitch” but admitted the groundsmen would have preferred the cracks to not have opened up so quickly, while NSW sources indicated the deterioration would have been OK had it been day four not day three.
These inconsistencies could be brushed aside six weeks out from a Test at other venues around the country, but at the SCG it is of urgent concern because there is simply no margin for another error to occur on the big stage.
The SCG pitch was rated “average” under the ICC’s old metrics when India visited previously in 2021 and both teams shook hands on a slow, protracted draw and unfortunately there have been too many dull no results in Sydney over recent years – not withstanding rain being a factor.
Lewis has certainly had to deal with more than his fair share of wet weather over the years and in his defence, last year’s two-and-a-half day disaster was an overcorrection to a valid attempt to at least try and bring bowlers back into the equation at the SCG.
But all valid excuses aside, there is a feeling that the SCG as a world class venue simply needs to be better than what it has been for some time.
The ground’s biggest crime in recent years has been the fact it’s lacked any of its true character.
If it was a spinner’s pitch – like it traditionally was in the ground’s golden era – and the surface fell apart, there would be few complaints.
But the problem is the SCG can’t even claim to be the nation’s turning deck any longer and in fact it’s Nathan Lyon’s worst Test venue in Australia.
Australia’s Test team hierarchy have told Cricket Australia that all they want from venues around the country is to retain their individual character – for example Perth and Brisbane should be fast and bouncy and Sydney should spin.
When England were in Australia eight years ago for the Ashes, it was the Melbourne Cricket Ground that was, quite rightfully, under siege for producing chronically substandard decks that never broke up.
The pitch England captain Alastair Cook made an unbeaten double century on in December 2017 was rated “poor” by the ICC.
But to the MCG and curator Matt Page’s credit, the ground made a concerted effort to reinvent its approach to preparing drop-in wickets and despite some stumbles along the way, Boxing Day has once again come to life producing recent classics like Scott Boland’s 6-7 and last summer’s all-time five-day epic against India.
Respected ABC commentator Jim Maxwell told Code Sports two years ago that as much as it broke his heart as a traditionalist to say it – the SCG might be better off reverting to drop-ins than the slow, lifeless pitches impacted by the rigours of the AFL season.
Trays for drop-in pitches physically cannot be transported into the SCG at present, but that could all change if funding to rebuild some of the ground’s inadequate grandstands is given in the coming years.
Lyon said during last week’s Shield game that it was the best SCG square he’d seen in years on account of the Sydney Swans not making the AFL finals, and he did have a strong game against Victoria, taking six wickets for the match.
There is of course still hope Lewis and the SCG can produce a blockbuster surface for the New Year’s Test, but the pressure is rising and the margins are narrow.
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Originally published as The Ashes 2025: SCG pitch fears sound alarm bells head of the first Test in Perth
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