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Team India is currently touring Australia for the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25. However, the visitors claimed the first Test in Perth by 295 runs, the hosts bounced back to clinch the second Test in Adelaide. The third Test was marred by rain, ending the match in draw, keeping the series well balanced going into the fourth BGT Test in Melbourne.
As the action moves to Melbourne for the fourth Test, the MCG pitch curator Matt Page finally opened on what the ground has on offer for the two teams. Matt Page revealed that the pitch has decent amount of grass to assist the bowlers in the Boxing Day Test, along with sharing insights at what it has offered over the years.
Matt Page reveals MCG pitch conditions for Boxing Day Test
“I guess we've been really happy with what we've served up over the last couple of years. We don't see any reason to change that. I guess we've seen three fantastic Test matches so far on three great pitches. So for us, it's about trying to do something similar to what we've done in recent years and creating a thrilling contest," Page told reporters at the MCG.
"Seven years ago, we were quite flat. We sat down as an organization and decided we wanted to create more exciting contests and Test matches. So we leave more grass on the pitches now. That brings the bowlers into play more, but they're still good for batting once the new ball softens. We've been running at six millimeters the last couple of years. We'll monitor that as we go, but we've been really happy with the results recently. So for us, it's a rinse-and-repeat job," Page was quoted as saying by TOI.
MCG pitch to assist spinner or pacers? Matt Page reveals
When asked about the role of spinners, Page said, "Spinners? Oh, it doesn't really break up and spin here. If you look at our long-format games over the last four or five years, they’ve been more seam-friendly than spin-friendly. So I don’t see that changing here."
"We aim to give bowlers opportunities at various points in the game while also giving batters a chance if they play well. So we experimented with our grass levels, compaction, and moisture, which took about three years to fine-tune. Over the last two or three years, we’ve been consistent in what we’ve rolled out, leaving a bit more grass on the pitches than we used to. It’s provided thrilling contests, and that’s what we want to do,” he further added.
