MCG pitch fiasco: Pietersen, Kartik point to selective criticism; CA rates it 'bad for business'

Melbourne: The overwhelmingly bowler-friendly Melbourne pitch on which 20 wickets fell on Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test has prompted Kevin Pietersen and Dinesh Kartik to point out the selective criticism of Indian tracks when spinners get wickets in a heap.

The Australian and England bowlers combined to take 20 wickets here on Friday, while the hosts were bundled out for 132 in their second innings in 34.3 overs in a little over one session.

"India ALWAYS gets hammered when wickets fall like crazy on day 1 of a Test and so I hope that Australia gets the same scrutiny! Fair is fair!,” wrote former England skipper Pietersen on his 'X' account.

The decision to leave 10mm grass on the MCG deck generated massive sideways movement, making batting here a lottery.

In all, 36 wickets tumbled in six sessions at Melbourne as the fourth Test ended inside two days with England winning by four wickets.

But the entire Ashes series so far has seen action only on 13 days out of the total 20 match days.

Earlier, the first Test at Perth too ended inside two days with the Aussies clinching it by eight wickets.

“MCG have produced an ordinary pitch here. Can't believe 2 out of the 4 ashes tests could end in 2 days. For all the hype, 4 ashes tests have happened in just 13 days,” voiced former India batter Karthik.

Their observations were based on the heavy criticism Indian spinners and pitches often have to encounter when such things happen in the sub-continent.

To trace an instance, the pundits were up in arms when England failed to counter Indian spinners on turners in Ahmedabad during the 2020-21 series.

The visiting side won the first Test at Chennai, but crumbled against Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel in the next three Tests across

Chepauk and Ahmedabad when pitches offered increased assistance to spinners.

But such outpouring of anger was less visible when pitches were skewed to help pacers Down Under during the ongoing Ashes.

“This pitch is a joke .. This is selling the game short .. The players / Broadcasters and more importantly the fans .. 26 wickets in 98 overs,” fumed former England skipper Michael Vaughan.

Former India opener Aakash Chopra was more forthcoming in his views.

“Not a single over of spin in 1.5 days of a Test match. 27 wickets have fallen already. Imagine the meltdown if not a single over of pace was bowled for that long in the subcontinent,” wrote Chopra in social media accounts.

In fact, both Australia and England entered the fourth Test without a frontline spinner, and did not even give a chance to part-timers like Travis Head or Will Jacks.

It may be noted that Aussie spinner Nathan Lyon was ruled out of the series with a hamstring injury after the third Test at Adelaide.

Bad for business: CA

Even Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg admitted that the Melbourne pitch was not a great advertisement for Test cricket, a format that already faces several other challenges.

“As mesmerising and fascinating and enjoyable as it was to watch as a fan, we want Test cricket clearly to go for longer. I didn't sleep

well last night, put it that way.

“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 (Day 1) 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,” Greenberg told SEN.

Greenberg suggested that the CA might think of a more hands-on approach henceforth in pitch preparation, keeping in mind business interests.

“Historically we have taken a hands-off approach in all of our wicket preparation and allowed the staff and the conditions and those characteristics to be presented.

“But it's hard not to get more involved when you see the impact on the sport, particularly commercially,” he added.