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Ashes 2025-26: ‘This pitch is a joke of cricket’ – 30 wickets fell in 109 overs in Melbourne Test

By Samira Vishwas

The fourth Test match being played between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground under the Ashes 2025-26 has sparked a huge debate regarding its pitch. This wicket, which is green and favorable for fast bowlers, has made the match very unbalanced. The situation was such that three innings ended within only five sessions.

No batsman scored a half century

In these three innings, no team could reach 200 runs nor did any batsman score a half-century. For this reason this pitch has now come under the target of critics. Scoring runs was no less than a big challenge for the batsmen on the first day of the match. The Australian team was reduced to just 152 runs in the first innings. In response, England’s condition was also no better and the entire team could add only 110 runs. The story did not change even on the second day.

Australia’s second innings ended at 132 runs, leaving England a target of 175 runs to win. If we look at the game so far, the bowlers have been completely dominating and the batsmen have been seen struggling continuously.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has given a sharp reaction regarding this unusual game. He strongly criticized the pitch on social media, calling it a “joke”. According to Vaughan, such a pitch harms the beauty of Test cricket. He wrote that the fall of 26 wickets in only 98 overs is an injustice to the players, broadcasters and above all the spectators. Vaughan believes that this kind of game makes Test cricket smaller and more one-sided than it needs to be.

A major reason for the behavior of the pitch is said to be the excess grass left on it. This time the curator kept about 10 mm of grass, which is much more than usual. In comparison, in the Test played against India on the same ground last year, there was about 7 mm of grass on the pitch and that match remained exciting till the fifth day. This time due to extra grass, the ball is continuously moving through the seam, due to which it has become very difficult for the batsmen to survive. The situation is such that the result of the match is expected to be declared in just two days.

Kevin Pietersen raised questions about the pitch

Apart from Michael Vaughan, another former England legend Kevin Pietersen has also raised questions about the pitch. Commenting on the double standards, he said that India often faces criticism when wickets fall rapidly on the first day of a Test match. In such a situation, he hopes that the same criteria will be adopted for Australia also. Overall, the pitch of the Melbourne Test has fueled the debate on fairness of cricket more than the Ashes.

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