MCG pitch battle spotlights issue for Australia
ESPNcricinfo.com | December 29, 2017When Steven Smith posted no fewer than three covers for Alastair Cook midway through day three at the MCG, he provided a succinct statement as to the lifelessness of the pitch prepared for the showpiece match of Australia's cricketing summer. Admirable as Cook's innings was for offering proof that his career is far from over, it was achieved on a pitch that presented very little risk of nicking off to slips the bouncing ball - the manner in which so many of his innings this series had ended.
Cook's innings took him past Brian Lara on the list of Test run-makers. After he made his 375 at the Recreation Ground in Antigua in 1994, Lara commented on how much he would have liked to roll up the pitch and carry it around everywhere with him. Being a drop-in, this MCG surface could actually travel wherever Cook wanted it to, but in terms of entertainment, and balance between bat and ball, it would be better used as a portion of the current project to widen the Tullamarine freeway linking Melbourne to its airport.
The MCG has long been a wonder of Test cricket, offering up massive and diverse crowds to watch the long form of the game at the traditional holiday time of year. If Boxing Day's roll-up of 88,172 narrowly failed to reach a new mark for the highest-ever day's crowd at a Test, follow-ups of 67,882 and 61,839 provided further reminders of how this multipurpose colosseum can attract some of the best and brightest gatherings not only in cricket but all of sport.
But Melbournians have seldom had the benefit of watching cricket played on a surface to match the quality of their attendances. For decades the demands of football in the winter presented problems for both the pitches and the outfield, culminating in a period in the 1980s when the surface was universally considered the worst in the country. Among the many elements of nostalgia inherent in this week's anniversary celebrations for the 1977 Centenary Test is how the players involved have contrasted the excellent Bill Watt pitch prepared for that game with the poor fare that followed it.
Drop-ins were gradually introduced to the square from 1996 onwards, replacing the unreliability of the past with a far more consistent brand of mediocrity. Unless it starts with green grass on the top and moisture underneath to allow seamers and spinners some early traction, the MCG surface simply does not deteriorate fast enough to offer enough of a challenge over the course of four or five days.
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