Melbourne Ashes fourth test pitch judged unsatisfactory by ICC

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Melbourne Ashes fourth test pitch judged unsatisfactory by ICC

1 January 2026

Test matches in cricket are generally meant to last the best part of five days. Fans of the game expect to see individual batters clock up scores of one-hundred plus runs. Maybe two-hundred plus, if they get on a roll. Brian Lara, a West Indies cricketer, once made four-hundred runs in a test match.

Last week, during the fourth test of the Ashes Series, not one batter from either the Australian or English teams managed to notch more than fifty runs. Twenty wickets fell on the first day of this match. That means both teams were bowled out on the same day.

This sort of thing happens — it’s a funny old game after all — but it is not something anyone expects of the top, first class, teams of any cricketing nation.

Last Tuesday the International Cricket Council (ICC) rated the pitch at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) as “unsatisfactory”, which is the second lowest rating a cricket pitch can receive.

This was on account of the one-centimetre long grass on the pitch, which seemed to suit bowlers more than batters, and explains the regularity with which wickets tumbled. Usually, the grass on test pitches is shorter, but on occasions has exceeded one centimetre.

While the length of the grass contributed to the low scoring game, commentators also said the quality of batting left much to be desired. England went on to win the truncated two day test match, their first victory in nearly fifteen years on Australian soil.

The fifth, and final, Ashes test commences in Sydney on Sunday 4 January 2026.

While Australia has already retained the Ashes, with a three to one lead in the five game series, I’m hoping England win in Sydney. That would make the score line three to two, and look, at least on paper, that this summer’s test series had been some sort of contest.