England vs Australia Ashes Test: The Melbourne Cricket Ground, known as the revered venue in the cricketing world, hosted its second two-day Ashes Test between England and Australia, following Perth’s lead, sparking sharp criticism from legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar.
The MCG pitch, which presented extreme movement and bounce, proved perfidious for batters, leading to a staggering 36 wickets falling in just 142 overs.
Following the end of the game, Gavaskar criticised the ICC for alleged double standards in pitch ratings, indicating that the Melbourne Cricket Ground pitch will likely be rated ‘good’ despite the fourth Ashes Test ending in just two days.
Despite exaggerated seam movement favouring bowlers, Perth received a “Very good” rating, prompting Gavaskar’s wisecrack.
“Since there is a new match referee, Jeff Crowe, for the Melbourne and Sydney Test matches, the rating could be different. Since 36 wickets fell in the Melbourne Test instead of 32 in Perth, Crowe might drop the word ‘very’ from the ‘very good’ that Madugalle gave for the Perth pitch and rate the MCG pitch as good. Surprises never cease, of course, so we may get another rating,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.
The legendary batter slammed the ICC for sensing bias against Indian pitch curators, saying they’re often unfairly labelled “horrible groundsmen” when the track doesn’t suit visiting teams.
“The curators, or as we found out about the person in charge at the MCG, the Director of Turf, may make a human error and get it slightly wrong, but they are not as devious as those ‘horrible groundsmen’ in India who do not even prepare a pitch and expect the batters to score runs on them. Tut tut,” Gavaskar added.