From Newsgroup: uk.sport.cricket




Stokes indirectly admits there would be hell on IF MCG pitch is served
up elsewhere.

Obviously he meant Subcontinent because fans, coaches and players ALWAYS COMPLAINED that subcontinental pitches should be RATED VERY POOR when
tests finished in less than three days.

Melbourne and Perth pitches are still RATED GOOD despite matches
finishing in two days.

The bias in perception is too obvious to be ignored.


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https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/ashes-2025-26-mcg-pitch-would-unleash-hell-elsewhere-in-the-world-ben-stokes-1517265


Stokes: MCG pitch would unleash 'hell' elsewhere in the world

England captain says his feedback to match referee "won't be the best"
after tourists seal victory in two days


England captain Ben Stokes believes there would be "hell on" if a pitch
like the one served up at the MCG was presented in other parts of the
world and added that his feedback to the match referee "won't be the best".

England won the fourth Test inside two days. It was the second two-day
Test of the series. The last time there had been multiple two-day Tests
in the same series was in 1912 while Australia has only hosted four
two-day Tests in history with two coming this summer and the third being played at the Gabba in 2022.

Although it wasn't dangerous, the consistent excessive seam movement throughout the match made batting very difficult as it was the first
Test in Australia since 1932 where no individual batter reached 50.

Stokes was blunt in his assessment of the surface post match.


"Being brutally honest, that's not really what you want," Stokes said.
"Boxing Day Test match. You don't want a game finishing in less than two
days. Not ideal. But you can't change it once you start the game and
you've just got to play what's in front of you.

"But I'm pretty sure if that was somewhere else in the world, there'd be
hell on. Not the best thing for games that should be played over five
days. But we played a type of cricket that ended up getting the job done."

Stokes was asked if he was referring to what the reaction would be if a two-day Test had been played on a pitch on the subcontinent.

"It's your words, not mine," Stokes said.

He was also asked what his feedback would be to the match referee about
the pitch.

"It won't be the best," he said.



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