Steve Smith, Ben Stokes critique MCG pitch as England captain confirms feedback 'won't be the best'
Steve Smith has admitted the MCG pitch offered "a little too much" for the bowlers following a two-day Boxing Day Test while Ben Stokes confirmed his advice to the match referee "won't be the best".
Australia ended up on the wrong side of a four-wicket result to England, losing 20 wickets across both days.
Overall there was 36 wickets taken over both days, with Smith saying the wicket was "tricky" to navigate.
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Steve Smith in his press conference. Cricket Australia
"36 wickets over two days, it probably offered a little too much," he said.
"It's tough as a groundsman, I think they're always looking for the right kind of balance I suppose.
"Last year's wicket was an outstanding one, it went to the last session of day five and in an ideal world every wicket does that and it's exciting for everyone. Maybe if you took it from 10mm to 8mm (of grass) it would've been a nice challenging wicket and a little more even I suppose but groundsmen are always learning and he'll probably take something from that no doubt."
Before the fourth Test, Smith had described the wicket as "furry" as Australia opted to not select a spinner. The stand-in captain conceded the pitch "did a little more than we thought".
"But you still have to find ways to adapt and if we get 50 or 60 more runs across both innings it's probably a different result," he said.
Ben Duckett is bowled by Mitchell Starc. Getty
England captain Ben Stokes also described the wicket as "niggly" before offering a blunt take.
"When you go out there and are faced with conditions you've got to crack on and deal with it but being brutally honest that's not really what you want," he said.
"A Boxing Day Test match, you don't want a game finishing in two days. It's not ideal, but you can't change it once you start the game, you've just got to play what's in front of you.
"I'm pretty sure if that was somewhere else in the world there'd be hell... not the best thing for games that should be played in five days but we played a type of cricket that ended up getting the job done."
Ben Stokes. Cricket Australia
Stokes was also asked to clarify his comment about "somewhere else in the world" and if it referred to criticism of Indian pitches.
The England captain offered a smirk before replying "they're your words, not mine, that one".
Stokes then said his feedback to the match referee "won't be the best".
Ben Stokes answers a question around his advice to the match referee. Cricket Australia
For Cricket Australia, the two-day Test is a terrible result considering the financial implications. Day three at the MCG was sold out, and the suggestion has been there could be a $6 million loss from that.
That figure is coupled by the $4 million loss from the two-day Test in Perth.
On Saturday morning, CA chief executive Todd Greenberg said on SEN that "short Tests are bad for business".
Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg. Getty Images for Cricket Austral
"I can't be much more blunt than that," he said.
"Historically, we have taken a hands-off approach on all of our wicket preparation and allowed the staff and conditions in those characteristics to be presented.
"It's hard not to get more involved when you see the impact on the sport, especially commercially. I'm not suggesting I'll go around talking to ground staff, but we do have to have a careful eye on what our expectations are over the course of a summer."
