Captain Ben Stokes says there would be "hell on" if the Melbourne pitch upon which his England team beat Australia inside two days had been produced in another part of the world.
Captain Ben Stokes says there would be "hell on" if the Melbourne pitch upon which his England team beat Australia inside two days had been produced in another part of the world.
The 10mm of grass left on the surface resulted in 36 wickets falling in six sessions at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and the highest score by a batter on either side was Travis Head's 46.
When asked what feedback on the pitch he would provide to match referee Jeff Crowe, Stokes said: "Not the best."
He told Test Match Special: "With 36 wickets in less than two days and no total over 200, I think you can read into that a lot.
"If that was another condition somewhere else and that happened, you probably would get a pasting."
The all-rounder was perhaps hinting towards the criticism of pitches in Asia that can turn excessively and create short Tests.
When it was put to Stokes he was making that inference, he replied: "Those are your words, not mine."
He added: "I'm pretty sure if that was somewhere else in the world there'd be hell on.
"It is not the best thing for games that should be played over five days but we played a type of cricket that ended up getting the job done."
England's victory was a second two-day Test of this Ashes after the series opener in Perth was also done inside two days. This is the first Test series between any opponents to include two two-days Tests since 1896.
In chasing 175 to win by four wickets, England ended a run of 18 Tests without a victory in Australia.
Australia had already secured the Ashes by winning the first three Tests, though this defeat denies them the opportunity of a 5-0 clean sweep.
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'Looking for that right balance'
Prior to the Test, stand-in Australia captain Steve Smith described the pitch as "furry and green" and said "batters would have to be on their game".
Speaking after his side were beaten, Smith said he was "not sure" why MCG head curator Matthew Page had opted to leave so much grass on the pitch for the Boxing Day Test – a marquee event in the Australian sporting calendar. Page will talk to the media on Sunday.
"We let them judge it and do what they see fit," said Smith.
"I said before the game it looked like it was going to offer a fair amount and it probably did more than we thought it was going to.
"It's tough as a groundsman, always looking for the right balance. Maybe if he took it from 10mm to eight it would have been a nice, challenging wicket, maybe a little bit more even. Groundsmen are always learning and maybe he'll take something from that."
Former England captain Michael Vaughan had criticised the MCG pitch after day one and said it had "done too much" and the result was an "unfair" contest between bat and ball.
Pitches and outfields that have hosted international matches are given a rating by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Following the 2017 Ashes Test on this ground, the MCG pitch was given a "poor" rating for being too friendly for batting. Only 24 wickets fell across the entire Test and England's Alastair Cook made an unbeaten 244.
On this occasion, England batter Joe Root, who also played in 2017, said this pitch was "challenging" on which to bat.
"The argument is was it too one-sided - bat v ball? People are more qualified to judge that," said Root. "It was certainly challenging from my point of view.
"You have a world-class attack and the ball is moving a considerable amount. Your job is to get on the right side of the result."
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