Boxing Day Test: After two days at The Gabba, MCG to deliver ‘even contest’

• Australia beat South Africa by six wickets on seaming surface at The Gabba.
• Boxing Day Test will be an even match between Australia and South Africa.
• MCG is a different arena than the current Gabba.

After the two-day match between Australia and South Africa at The Gabba in Brisbane, Peter Roach, head of cricket operations and scheduling at Cricket Australia (CA), claimed that the national governing body had not given any instructions to the curator at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) regarding the type of pitch for the Boxing Day Test.

Australia triumphed by six wickets on an extremely seaming surface at the Gabba after 34 wickets fell in six sessions. Match referee Richie Richardson assessed the pitch a rating of “below ordinary” and awarded the venue a demerit point, which was accepted by CA.

“We encourage all of our matches to consider how we may strike the correct balance over it as the fourth day progresses. The fourth day offers the game an opportunity to go a little bit further, so we suggest not to be disappointed when a match extends into the fifth,” remarked Roach to reporters at the MCG, next to the Dennis Lillee Statue.

Due to the controversy surrounding the pitch at the Gabba, Boxing Day will see an even match between Australia and South Africa at the MCG. The Boxing Day Test at the MCG’s drop-in ground last year was finished in three days after Australia dominated England in a one-sided Ashes match to win the urn.

We don’t have curators here in Australia, which is one of its attractions. In some ways, the venue or the states employ curators. We offer advice and talk about how we believe Test cricket should be played. We have these distinctive qualities from one side of the nation to the other, and we want to see them come out, which is one of the wonderful things about Test cricket in Australia and why it thrives. We want to see those qualities, not the identical ones from Perth to Sydney to Hobart. We don’t usually tell people what they need to be because they are the ones who are closest to their circumstances.

Prior to the Test match, which is one of the most eagerly anticipated events in the Australian sporting calendar, Roach admitted he had not yet had a lengthy talk with MCG pitch curator Matt Page.

“I believe we can be sure that there is always pressure on the curator with Test cricket on Boxing Day. The curator is under pressure during every test match, regardless of the conditions. We will speak with Matt after I do. But he is aware of the location where he must land it on Christmas Day. He will make an effort to get that as accurate as he can given the weather and the circumstances.

“I believe the MCG is working to reach a stage where they can offer a pitch with pace and bounce, understanding the difficulty of doing so given the decline of drop-ins in this area. He will change it, whether it is the same as last year or not. Conditions are important. Thank god Melbourne will see far higher temperatures than it has in the past few months. That will affect how he gets ready for the pitch. The head of Cricket Australia’s operations and scheduling department expressed trust in Page and his crew of groundskeepers at the MCG to provide the best surface possible for the game.

“We don’t anticipate that what transpired at the Gabba will have an impact on what takes place at the MCG. Given the special features of the venue they are in, we anticipate that all curators will once more strike the right balance between bat and ball.

“The MCG is a different arena than the current Gabba. We hope that is released on Boxing Day. The current curator has been here for five years and has made a small adjustment every year to try and make that as flawless as he can.

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