Australia coach Andrew McDonald rejects talk of made-to-order MCG pitch
Other countries have long accused Australia of doing the same thing as countries like India and England in terms of team demands on the types of pitches to play on. However, this idea is considered anathema to the Australian team and also to the Australian curators.
MCG curator Matt Page speaks to Australia coach Andrew McDonald on 24 December.Credit: Getty Images
McDonald made clear Monday that he and his team are not making demands on the type of presentation curators should produce. Page said Sunday the home team had “absolutely no input.”
“I don’t know where and how this started, I would like to know if you can give up on that person. [who] maybe you can spread the word,” McDonald said.
“But our conversations with the field team are the same as always. [are]How do you think it can be played, what can it do? And then we can build a team in and around that.
“I don’t know how to take wickets. I don’t know how to prepare wickets. Our job is to go out there and solve the problems it throws up. So it would be very wrong to assume that we have had a say in our wickets for some time now.”
MCG curator Matt Page looks on during the Australian nets session on December 24.Credit: Getty Images
McDonald said he was open to CA working more collaboratively with curators on overall subject production, but did not go beyond that.
“If you’re getting to that point, I don’t want to get to a situation where we’re demanding certain finishes and products that are specifically designed for what we have at that moment,” McDonald said.
“I don’t think Australia will ever go there. And as far as I know, I don’t think they’ve ever gone there.”
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Les Burdett, CA’s on-field consultant for the last 15 years, told this imprint how he has advised the likes of Page, Damian Hough (Adelaide Oval curator) and David Sandurski (Gabba) on speaking to coaches and captains.
“You have to listen to the coaches and captains,” Burdett said. “Don’t get involved in a heated conversation. You have to understand their expectations and then do the right thing by doing cricket.”
As reported by this imprint, the second two-day Ashes Test of the Summer will cost Australian cricket stakeholders around $25 million, upsetting broadcasters who budget for an average of four days per Test to break even.
McDonald backed the embattled Page by saying his own batsmen should take some of the responsibility for the summer’s crucial test, which lasts just two days.
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“How did I think it was going to play? I thought we would get to day three, day four, but surface-mix cricket didn’t allow for that,” McDonald said. “We also have to take responsibility for the way we play. So it’s not entirely and solely the fault of the surface.”
McDonald, a former Victoria coach, sincerely appreciates the challenges Page overcame in 2017 as he transformed the MCG pitch from a bowler’s graveyard to the venue that received the ICC’s highest points in each of the last three Tests.
Andrew McDonald on Monday. Credit: Getty Images
“He’s doing a phenomenal job and the perspective I always use is that we have bad Test matches too,” McDonald said.
“Sometimes these things happen but we support him in what he does and we’re really proud of the development of the MCG. So hopefully people can get an idea of where he is in this journey and support him in the next challenge he faces.”
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