Boxing Day Test pitch presents opportunity for batsmen and bowlers, curator Matt Page says
The curator who has built the pitch for the Boxing Day Test says it would fly around like the Perth pitch but is confident it will produce a result between Australia and India, rather than the draw the Test match produced last year.
Cricket
Don't miss out on the headlines from Cricket. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Matt Page built the wild wicket that brought the second Test in Perth to life but doesn’t expect the ball to fly like it did there when Boxing Day begins.
The MCG curator is, however, confident of a result with the pressure on ground officials to get it right after a dull draw last year came with a stiff warning from cricket’s ruling body.
What constitutes a good pitch has become clouded after match referee Ranjan Madugalle rated the Perth wicket as “average”, the lowest pass mark available, despite player-wide praise.
I’M FIT: FINCH A CERTAIN STARTER ON BOXING DAY
BRING IT ON: AUSSIE QUICKS HAVE BIG PLANS FOR KOHLI
MARCUS HARRIS: ‘LITTLE PUNK’ DESTINED FOR GREATNESS
Last year’s “poor” rating for the MCG, also by Madugalle, resulted in a warning but Page, curating his first Boxing Day wicket after crossing from the west, was confident the fickle Melbourne weather would help his pitch become something close to perfect.
“Here’s totally different to Perth … so I don’t expect it to fly through like Perth did. We’re hopeful there will be some pace and bounce for the quickies, so it gives them an opportunity.” Page said on Sunday morning with the pitch still boasting a solid covering of grass.
“But also if the batters are good enough and get in on it, it gives them an opportunity to score some runs.
“Day one we are looking at 26C and then it’s going to warm up. From that point of view we are hoping it will dry the top out and bring the spinners in later in the game. If it’s cooler it probably wouldn’t change a lot over five days.
“The weather is massive to what we do and once the game starts we can’t do anything to the pitch. Sometimes you need that weather to get what you want.”
Test great Shane Warne said he hoped the wicket would have “the maximum amount of grass available” and was rock hard to ensure the two in-form bowling attacks got the best chance to take 20 wickets each.
WICKET: HEAT CAN COOK UP PERFECT MCG PITCH
IAN CHAPPELL: IMPRESSIVE PAINE STANDS UP TO INDIANS
BOXING DAY: MCG BAN THREAT WAS NON-EXISTENT
Despite the last Sheffield Shield match at the MCG earlier this month ending in a draw, Page said the Boxing Day wicket would be more like the previous game, where only a final day wash-out a robbed Victoria of a win.
Page hoped the wicket would deteriorate as the game went on, which it didn’t do last summer when both Australian and English players said they could have batted on it “for days”.
Despite those memories coming to the fore again this week, Page said he wasn’t feeling the pressure.
“It doesn’t matter what pitch you prepare, and what rating you get. Every year to try to do the best possible job you can,” he said.
“Whether you succeed the year before, or it didn’t go quite as planned, I think there’s still the same pressures there. There’s definitely pressure’s there, but there’s also a lot of excitement as well.”
Australia bowler Pat Cummins was excited by Sunday’s MCG pitch report although batsman Usman Khawaja warned not to read too much into the grassy wicket unveiled by Page.
“It’s green at the moment, but we’re still four days out so we’ll see what happens,” Khawaja told the Herald Sun after a personal inspection.
“Honestly, I don’t make anything of it at the moment. We’re four days out — I have no idea what it’s going to look like in four days’ time.”
Last year Cummins toiled away for 29.1 overs, taking 4-117, in the boring Ashes day draw against England and said it was “toughgoing” for the bowlers.
“But a couple of the boys had a look and said it was really green,” Cummins said.
“So, as a fast bowler I’m pretty happy with it. Hopefully it’s a fairer contest (between bat and ball).
“Previous years it’s certainly been a bat-first wicket and has sort of got better and better and better as games have goneon.”
Page wants to prepare a pitch similar to the one used for the Victoria-South Australia clash seven weeks ago.
Paceman Scott Boland took 7-54 on day one and was surprised the Redbacks won the toss and batted first.
Mitchell Starc said that Sheffield Shield clash, which ended as a draw due to rain on day four, was the talk of the Australian camp.
“In our meeting this morning there were a few of the Victorians who played that game,” Starc said.
“If it does play that way we’ll have a little bit of an idea, but with any cricket wicket it’s how you adapt over five days.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen green grass on the MCG.”
Josh Hazlewood said the Aussies were gleaning pitch tips from as many sources as possible.
“Wherever we are we’ll ask who’s played on it,” he said.
“Harry (Marcus Harris) talked a fair bit in the meeting about the wicket, and we are interested in what they have found, howthey have batted and things like that.
“But if you have the mindset that it’s the hardest wicket to bowl on, and it’s not, then happy days.”
Test squad members Harris, Peter Handscomb and Peter Siddle played in the Vic-SA match.
Harris made 65 and seven, Victorian skipper Handscomb made 123 and two while Siddle took 1-51 and 1-29.
Every Test, ODI, T20I, and BBL match live. SIGN UP NOW!
Originally published as Boxing Day Test pitch presents opportunity for batsmen and bowlers, curator Matt Page says