Australia batted twice on the first day of the Boxing Day Test.
The MCG pitch came in the spotlight during the Boxing Day Test of the ongoing Ashes 2025 after a bowlers’ day out. Former England pacer Stuart Broad did not hold back and criticised the pitch for excessive help for seamers.
This is the second time the pitch has come under scrutiny in this series. Earlier, the Perth Test witnessed 19 wickets on the first day and the match finished in two days. The MCG pitch seems to be spicier than that.
A total of 20 wickets fell on the first day of the MCG Test as both teams were bowled out on the day. There was a good amount of grass on the MCG pitch and it offered significant lateral movement for seamers throughout the day.
Speaking to SEN Radio, Stuart Broad criticised the MCG pitch for its excessive assistance for seamers, citing that bowlers do not need this much help.
“The pitch is doing too much if I’m brutally honest. Test match bowlers don’t need this amount of movement to look threatening,” said Broad.
Broad was right in his assessment as batters could not cope with the conditions with only 266 runs scored in the day. Australia were skittled out for 152 runs and then followed a familiar story for England as they were bowled out for 110. Australia batted for the second time, seeing out one over safely to end the day. Harry Brook’s 41 was the highest individual score across the first two innings.
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England came into the fourth Test having already lost the ashes to fight for the pride. Things were going well for them after Ben Stokes won the toss and put the hosts in to bat first. His bowlers made the most of the conditions to restrict Australia to a low total.
The visitors would have hoped to keep their foot down and dominate the game but instead they suffered yet another batting collapse. Their top order crumbled against movement, losing four wickets for just 16 runs. Brook’s counterattack didn’t last long enough and England eventually ended up handing a 42-run lead to the home side.
On a pitch where every run is precious, this first innings deficit could be decisive. Safe to say, they have a tall task ahead of them to win their first Test in Australia in 15 years.
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