Questions over MCG pitch after two-day Boxing Day Test

The Melbourne Cricket Ground pitch came under the scanner after the Boxing Day Ashes Test between Australia and England finished inside two days, with captains from both sides weighing in on a surface that offered seam movement throughout and left little room for batting.

As many as 36 wickets fell in 142 overs, with fast bowlers dominating proceedings and no overs of spin bowled in the match. The Test - England's first win in Australia since the 2010-11 tour - lasted all of 952 balls, just five more than the Perth Test at the start of this Ashes series. This has obviously prompted questions around pitch balance at one of the game's marquee venues.

England captain Ben Stokes was forthright in his assessment, suggesting the wicket would not have been viewed kindly had it been prepared elsewhere. "If that pitch had been produced in other parts of the world, there would be some serious questions asked," Stokes said, adding that his feedback to the match referee Jeff Crowe "would not be the best".

"When you go out there and you're faced with conditions, you've got to crack on and deal with it," Stokes said. "But, being brutally honest, that's not really what you want. A Boxing Day Test match, you don't want a game finishing in less than two days. Not ideal, but you can't change it once you start the game and you've just got to play what's in front of you.

"But I'm pretty sure if that was somewhere else in the world..."

Australia stand-in skipper Steve Smith acknowledged that the surface had "done a bit more than expected," though he stopped short of criticising it outright. "It's tough as a groundsman, I think he's always looking for the right balance," said Smith. "Last year's wicket was an outstanding one, it went to day five [in the] last session.

"In an ideal world, every wicket does that, and it's exciting for everyone. Maybe if you took [the grass covering] from 10 (mm) to 8, it would have been a nice, challenging wicket, make it a little bit more even, I suppose. But groundsmen are always learning and he'll probably take something from that, no doubt."

Interestingly, the ICC rated last month's Test in Perth, which also failed to get into a third day and saw only 41 more overs bowled than this MCG Test, as being played on a "very good" pitch; the highest possible rating. Cricket Australia will now await Jeff Crowe and ICC's verdict on this pitch, with an unsatisfactory rating likely to bring the iconic venue a demerit point. Six demerit points in five years will earn venues a ban from hosting international cricket for 12 months.

Meanwhile, Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg conceded that abbreviated Tests were "bad for business". He had previously revealed that the two-day Test in Perth had cost the board around AUD 5 million. Greenberg indicated that Cricket Australia could look to play a more active role in pitch preparation going forward, moving away from its traditionally hands-off stance.

"Historically we have taken a hands-off approach in all of our wicket preparation and allowed the staff and the conditions and those characteristics to be presented," Greenberg told SEN before play on Saturday. "But it's hard not to get more involved when you see the impact on the sport, particularly commercially."