Ashes 2025-26: Melbourne pitch rated ‘unsatisfactory’ after two-day Boxing Day Test

MCG chief curator Matt Page left 10mm of turf on the pitch to counteract the hot conditions predicted for later in the match but this was cited as a reason for the brisk conditions.

Page said he was “in a state of shock” during the match, which England won by four wickets. Travis Head’s score of 46 was the top score in Australia’s second innings.

The Boxing Day Test was the second two-day affair of this Ashes series, but the surface of the other, the first Test in Perth, was rated “very good”, suggesting batting error was more to blame here.

“Inadequate” is the ICC’s second-lowest ranking for the pitch.

Although it is the first time an Australian lane has been judged substandard under the current system, there have been problems at the MCG ground before.

In the drawn match of 2017, the surface failed to offer adequate support to the bowlers, resulting in a dull contest in which just 24 wickets fell. It was rated “poor”.

A year later, the pitch used for India’s win was rated “average”.

Speaking before the ICC announcement, Australia coach Andrew McDonald defended Page and suggested this year’s field should be viewed in the context of trying to improve from 2017.

“He does a phenomenal job,” McDonald said.

“The perspective I always use is this: [Australia] There are also bad Test matches. We had a bad Test match in the first Test match last summer.

“Sometimes these things happen but we support him in what he is doing and we are really proud of the development of the MCG.

“I hope people have an understanding of where he is in his journey and can support him through his next challenge.”