The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) said it would carry out a full review of the drop-in pitch used for the fourth Ashes Test between Australia and England after complaints it produced a dull match.
The eagerly awaited game ended in a dour draw yesterday, when the teams shook hands and agreed to an early finish with neither side in position to push for victory after five days in which bat dominated over ball.
England started the last day with some hope of winning, but were unable to bowl Australia out on a flat and lifeless pitch that offered virtually no assistance to either their pace or spin bowlers.
Photo: AFP
“That’s as flat a wicket as you’ll ever see — another four days and it would be exactly the same,” England captain Joe Root said. “We did everything we could on a very flat wicket that was not offering the bowlers very much at all.”
Australian captain Steve Smith, who steered his team out of danger to salvage a draw with an unbeaten 102 in his team’s second innings, was also critical of the pitch, saying it became too predictable and easy to bat on.
“I just think it just needs to do something. It hasn’t changed over five days and I’d say if we were playing for the next couple of days it probably wouldn’t change at all either,” he said.
“It’s got to find a way to have some pace or bounce or take some spin or do something. Obviously we saw a reasonable amount of reverse swing throughout the game, but the ball just gets so soft so quickly, because the surface is quite hard itself. It gets soft and doesn’t carry through and it’s really difficult to get people out,” he added.
The MCC responded to the complaints with a statement saying it had been using drop-in pitches for 20 years and while it was rare for matches to end in draws, it would carry out a full review.
“While this Test pitch did produce a good contest, it has not contained the pace and bounce that we expected,” MCC chief executive Stuart Fox said. “As the game progressed, the surface did not deteriorate nor bring the level of unpredictability that was anticipated. We review all elements of our performance at the conclusion of every event and the quality of the pitch is no exception.”
“We will take on board feedback from the players, umpires and cricket bodies, as well as our own observations. Our new head curator, Matthew Page, will take on pitch preparation duties in the coming weeks and we look forward to his input,” he added. “Overall, we remain confident and determined to produce portable wickets that generate entertaining Test cricket. Portable pitches have been used at the MCG for more than 20 years and drawn Tests have been a rarity in that time.”
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was