Brydon Carse of England celebrates taking the wicket of Alex Carey of Australia during the fourth test in Melbourne. Photo: photosport
No fewer than 36 wickets fell during two chaotic days in the fourth Ashes test, leaving the captains of both Australia and England unimpressed with the Melbourne Cricket Ground pitch.
England completed a four-wicket win late on day two for their first test victory in the country in 15 years but skipper Ben Stokes was scathing of the surface, even after his batters chased down 175 runs for victory.
Stokes told reporters his feedback to the match referee would not be the "best" for a pitch that had a centimetre of grass left by the curator on the morning of day one.
"When you go out there and you're faced with conditions, you've got to crack on and deal with it," Stokes told reporters.
"But being brutally honest, that's not really what you want.
"Boxing Day test match, you don't want a game finishing in less than two days. Not ideal."
England were bowled out for 110 in reply to Australia's first innings 152 on day one, with poor shot-making only a small part of the overall story.
Australia were skittled for 132 in their second innings in the middle session on day two before England finished victorious on 178 for six.
Last year's Melbourne test between Australia and India had about 7mm of grass left on the wicket initially and lasted deep into day five.
Australia's stand-in captain Steve Smith offered a lukewarm defence of MCG curator Matt Page, saying it was a delicate balance for ground staff to strike.
But with day three tickets sold out at the 100,000-seat stadium, Saturday was a bad day for the local game, with Cricket Australia to forgo millions in revenue.
It was another costly blow following the two-day series-opener in Perth.
"In terms of the wicket, it was obviously a tricky one," Smith told reporters.
"Thirty-six wickets over two days (it) probably offered just a little bit too much.
"Obviously finances aren't great. I think it was a sell-out tomorrow if we got there. So, yeah, disappointing for those (fans) that wanted to come along."
England cricket supporters. Photo: photosport
Stokes savours win
It was nevertheless a relieved Stokes bidding good riddance to more than a decade of pain for English cricket in Australia as his team rallied from the depths to complete a drought-breaking test win in Melbourne.
Under fire after losing the first three Ashes tests, and amid reports of players treating a mid-tour break in Noosa as a hard-drinking "stag do", there seemed little prospect of England turning things around in Melbourne.
Lacking injured paceman Jofra Archer and with Gus Atkinson suffering a hamstring strain early on day two, England had to dig deep to contain Australia and chase down 175 runs on a treacherous wicket for batters.
In the end, with the Barmy Army singing joyously, Stokes could finally soak up a test win on Australian soil - even if the urn was locked away by the hosts after the third test in Adelaide.
"I think it will mean a hell of a lot to everyone," he said of England's first test win Down Under since January 2011.
"Then you've got me and Joe [Root], who have came here a few times and been on the wrong end of the result.
"But I think we will all share that same satisfaction of winning a game out here.
"And adding to it [was] that it was a Boxing Day test match, which is a very, very big sporting event that we're lucky enough to be able to play in.
"So there'll be all different types of emotions associated with this victory."
England batsman Ben Stokes evades a ball, Ashes series, 2025. Photo: DAVE HUNT / PHOTOSPORT
On their first Ashes tour, Stokes and Root were part of the England squad that were whitewashed 5-0 in 2013/14 by pace dynamo Mitchell Johnson and a vengeful Australian outfit.
Stokes missed the 4-0 defeat on the next 2017/18 tour while defending assault charges he was later cleared of, but returned for the 2021/22 tour as England lost 4-0 again.
Australia were pushing for a whitewash in the current series but the MCG pitch stopped the hosts in their tracks and things belatedly came together for England.
After the bowlers routed Australia for 132 in their second innings early on day two, England's previously misfiring top order smashed Australia's quicks around the ground at six or seven runs an over.
It softened up the ball's seam, reducing its movement off the pitch, and allowed the middle order batters to complete victory late on day two.
England have pulled off some epic chases, including the 371-run target to beat India by five wickets at Headingley in the first test of the home summer series.
But Stokes felt the 175-run effort at the MCG ranked highly among them given the condition of the pitch and all the off-field turmoil that had engulfed the side in the lead-up.
"Chasing down 170 on a wicket like that was never, ever going to be easy," he said.
"So I think when you put everything into consideration with the buildup to this test match, the conditions that we were faced with to chase 170 down - you could almost say that it felt like 340.
"But I love the way that we went about it, that we just didn't let a very good bowling attack feel like they were able to settle into the areas that they wanted to."
- Reuters
