MCG curator happy with deck

MCG curator Matt Page isn’t feeling any extra pressure as the cricketing world waits to see if he’s prepared a pitch befitting the most eagerly anticipated Boxing Day Test in eight years.

The iconic venue suffered global embarrassment a year ago when the pitch produced for the Ashes Test was branded poor by match referee Ranjan Madugalle. The grading, unprecedented in Australia, was based on the docile drop-in deck failing to break up in a dull drawn Test.

Just 24 wickets fell in almost 400 overs, highlighting just how hard it was for bowlers to make things happen.

Page wasn’t in charge of the centre strip at that point but took over soon after and he has hatched a plan to inject some life into a surface that was being decried at both domestic and international level.

“Whether you succeed the year before, or it didn’t go quite as planned, I think there’s still the same pressures there,” Page said.

“There’s definitely pressures there but there’s also a lot of excitement as well.

“We’re confident we’ll produce a good surface ... we’re pretty happy with where it is at.

“The weather is looking good, so we’re in a pretty good spot. I’m pretty relaxed.”

A post-season debrief with Cricket Australia followed last year’s debacle.

Page mapped out a longterm fix, with the underlying concrete slab likely to be replaced by a more modern system at the end of this season, and rolled out short-term measures, including sand and reducing the centre-wicket block from 10 to seven pitches.