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As the fourth Ashes Test between Australia and England ended in just two days at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), former England skipper Alastair Cook shared a banter on the MCG pitch.
This comes after MCG's pitch was rated "unsatisfactory" by the ICC after the fourth Ashes Test, which ended in just two days. Cook, who has slammed 2493 Test runs in Australia, said that Australian fans have never been fond of him staying on the pitch for two days, hence the MCG pitch has been changed. "I do have to apologise, people who sat through that never wanted to sit and watch me bat for 2 days, so they totally changed the way the pitch played," Alastair Cook said on the Stick to Cricket Podcast. This decision was made because the pitch was deemed too favourable to bowlers, with 36 wickets falling in 142 overs and no batter scoring a half-century in the fourth Ashes Test last week. As a result, the MCG has received one demerit point under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process, which will remain active for the next five years. Match referee Jeff Crowe explained that the pitch's condition gave bowlers an unfair advantage, contributing to the match's rapid conclusion. Although England claimed their first Test win in Australia since 2011, Australia had already secured the Ashes by winning the opening three matches to gain an unassailable 3-0 lead. Former England captain Michael Vaughan found the fourth Test thrilling, with every ball keeping him on the edge of his seat, but lamented that it wasn't proper Test cricket. "I was entertained, and it was intriguing because you're on the edge of your seat every single ball because you felt there was going to be a wicket, but that wasn't Test cricket for me," Vaughan said. (ANI)
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