Former England pacer Stuart Broad and Australia great Glenn McGrath have criticised the pitch on offer at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) for the Boxing Day Test in the ongoing Ashes 2025/26, calling it overly bowler-friendly.
While on commentary for SEN Radio, Broad felt that the pitch was doing too much for the bowlers, making life extremely difficult for batters.
“The pitch is doing too much, if I’m brutally honest. Test match bowlers don’t need this amount of movement to look threatening. Great Test match pitches, generally, they bounce, but they don’t jag all over the place,” Broad said.
England won the toss and elected to bowl first. Josh Tongue led the charge with a five-wicket haul as Australia were bowled out for 152 on Day 1. However, England failed to capitalise as they were bundled out for just 110 in reply. Michael Neser picked up four wickets, while Scott Boland claimed three.
All 20 wickets fell on the opening day, triggering widespread criticism from cricket experts across the world over the nature of the pitch.
Speaking to the BBC, Glenn McGrath echoed similar concerns and said that the surface had too much grass on it.
“This pitch has got far too much grass on it… That pitch has got too much life in it for Test cricket… The Australians bowled well [but] it’s hard to apply yourself on a pitch that’s doing plenty because if you’re looking to defend, one’s got your name on it. You’ve got to find that balance between somehow keeping balls out while still looking to score,” McGrath said.
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