The Ashes is more than a Test series played between two teams, it is the very pinnacle of the purest format of the game. Cricket fans, irrespective of their nationalities, eagerly wait for The Ashes as it has always delivered quality cricket, but this time around things have been a bit different.
Barring the Melbourne Test, England never looked in the fight and Australia won The Ashes in just 11 days.
England’s win in Melbourne was their first on Australian soil since 2011, but the match failed to live up to the expectations, courtesy of the pitch and how a total of 20 wickets fell by the end of day one of the Boxing Test.
Cricket Australia CEO Reacts To The Melbourne Nightmare
Test pitches are quickly becoming a matter of huge debate considering how bad few of them had turned out to be in recent times. The ongoing Ashes saw two Test matches inside two days. The Ashes opener that was played in Perth had ended within two days and something similar happened with the Melbourne Test as well.
Todd Greenberg, Cricket Australia CEO, wasn’t pleased with the game ending within two days and also labelled it as something that isn’t good for business. With the match ending within two days and tickets sold out for the expected third day, Cricket Australia might be staring at huge losses.
“A simple phrase I’d use is short Tests are bad for business. I can’t be much more blunt than that. So I would like to see a slightly broader balance between the bat and the ball. I thought yesterday slightly favoured the ball. The batters have some ownership in some of that, it’s not all around the pitch, but we’ve got some challenges,” said Greenberg.
All Eyes On MCG’s Pitch Rating
A lot has been written and spoken about the Melbourne pitch and how it played during the ‘Boxing Day’ Test match. Cricket world will wait with bated breath on the rating that the ICC gives to the MCG pitch.