'Selling The Game Short': Former Ashes Winner Tears Into The MCG Pitch, Labels Spicy And Green-Tinged Melbourne Wicket As Joke

In a day and age, when there is a conscious effort from the stakeholders of Test cricket to keep the format alive, the surfaces that are being prepared in different parts of the world have come under severe scrutiny. Australia might have won the Ashes, but the surface that they prepared for the Boxing Day Ashes Test, one of the biggest events in the sport, is nothing short of mediocre.

A total of 20 wickets fell on the opening day of the Test match. To make matters worse, a total of 30 wickets fell in the first five sessions of the game. Many fans of the game have rightly blamed poor batting and technical flaws which led to the debacle, but one can't discount the fact that the MCG pitch does have demons of its own.

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Michael Vaughan Calls MCG Pitch A Joke

MCG curator Matt Page, amid all the criticism, said that his idea was to replicate the surface that was produced for last year's Border-Gavaskar Trophy fixture which went till the fifth day, but the manner in which the 2025-26 Boxing Day Test has unfolded, it is unlikely to go beyond two days.

Ex-players from both the countries, including the likes of Glenn McGrath, Stuart Broad and Kevin Pietersen, have been vocal about their opinion of the Melbourne pitch. Now Michael Vaughan has joined the criticism around the MCG pitch and has ended up calling the surface a joke. "This pitch is a joke. This is selling the game short. The players / Broadcasters and more importantly the fans, 26 wickets in 98 overs!!!," wrote Vaughan on his X (formerly known as Twitter) account. The turf at the MCG has always been very sporting, contrary to the one that has been produced in the ongoing Boxing Day Test of the 2025-26 edition of The Ashes.

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Alastair Cook Gives His Two Cents On The MCG Pitch

Former England skipper Alastair Cook didn't mince words and he said that the bowlers didn't have to work hard for their wickets. Cook also said that the balance had tipped too far the other way.