The MCG pitch has come under severe criticism from former players.
“A win is a win, and England should celebrate ... but NO Test cricket fans should be celebrating what we have seen for 2 days,” Michael Vaughan wrote on X.
The verdict from the commentary booths, too, was scathing. “The players obviously want to be out there slogging it out over five days,” Ricky Ponting said on Channel 7.
“Fans have flown all the way around the world to hopefully get five very entertaining days of cricket here at the MCG. It’s over in two days, it was over in two days in Perth. It’s not good for the game on a number of fronts.
“It’s not good for the players to be out there playing on a wicket like that, but for the fans to turn up... and the amount of money that will be lost here at the next three days, whether it’s through Cricket Australia, the MCC or the broadcasters, will be astronomical.”
Ponting joked he has three days of golf booked: “All done.”
Stuart Broad said: “I think if the England team are really brave, they should go to Noosa for a couple of days and just enjoy their time up there.”
The former England pacer assessed the pitch as having “done far too much”.
“Test match bowlers don’t need that level of assistance to make it difficult for batters,” he said.
“I’ve always believed the best Test match pitches bounce but don’t necessarily seam sideways, because then if a batter makes a mistake, the ball carries to the keeper in the slips.
“This one, even before a ball was bowled, the experts, the former players, they’re going ‘this is going to nip around. It’s going to do it on day two as well’.
“It moved too much and it bounced unevenly as well, that’s why it was a two-day Test. It’s not good for the game and players don’t want two-day Test cricket.”