Pitch saw 32 wkts in 3 days in Shield tie

MELBOURNE: With a capacity of more than 90,000 and as the traditional host of the Boxing Day Test — the Melbourne Cricket Ground is one of the most iconic venues in world cricket. The MCG is a multi-sports venue meaning the pitch is a drop-in one.

THE GROUND

The MCG has one of the biggest playing areas in world cricket — the exact dimensions of the playing area are 173m long and 148m wide but with boundaries typically brought slightly in, the straight boundaries are normally around 80m and the square boundaries around 70m. These boundaries are comparatively large by global standards which makes running between the wickets crucial and produces a comparatively low boundary percentage of just 5.50% — the second-lowest of any Test venue to have hosted more than 15 Tests since 2000.

THE PITCH

The pitch at the MCG since 2006 has behaved unremarkably — there has been some seam movement but very little swing and spin. There is less bounce from a good length than the Australian average but more than the global average.

The pitch has become significantly less helpful for bowlers in recent years and most recently produced the only drawn Test of the 2017 Ashes series, which fetched the wicket a ‘poor’ rating from the ICC. After 2014 the pitch has become increasingly docile.

After the boring draw in last year’s Ashes, the MCG’S new curator — Matt Page — has been tasked with enlivening the pitch and on the evidence of the Sheffield Shield matches here this season, he expects the pitch to provide more assistance to bowlers.

Page has specifically pointed to the second Sheffield Shield match — when rain prevented a result but 32 wickets fell in three days — as an indicator to how he expects the pitch to play. That match was dominated by the pacers who took 28 wickets at an average of 24 while the spinners took just four at an average of 37. However, with hot weather forecast during the Test, Page expects the sun to dry the pitch out and assist the spinners later in the match.

THE TOSS

In Tests at the MCG in the 21st century, teams who have fielded first have had marginally more success, a similar trend has existed since 2010. However, in all first class matches since 2010, the advantage to the team fielding first is more pronounced.