Ashes 2025-26: Ben Stokes and Steve Smith slam MCG pitch after 4th Test ends in two days

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England pulled off a stunning four-wicket victory over Australia in the fourth Ashes Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), but the result was quickly overshadowed by fierce criticism of the pitch after the match ended midway through Day 2. A total of 36 wickets fell across two days, with neither side managing an innings score of 200, prompting both captains to condemn the surface used for the iconic Boxing Day Test.

The match, part of the Ashes 2025–26 series, saw seam bowlers dominate from the opening session. Australia were dismissed for 152 in the first innings and fared little better in the second, folding for 132. England, despite struggling themselves with the bat and being bowled out for 110, successfully chased a modest target of 175 to seal the win.

The unusually short Test immediately drew attention, with fans and pundits questioning how a marquee fixture at the MCG could be over so quickly. It was England’s first Test victory on Australian soil since 2011, but even that milestone could not mask concerns over the playing conditions.

England captain Ben Stokes was forthright in his assessment of the pitch, revealing that his feedback to the match referee was “not very favourable.” Speaking after the game, Stokes said the surface failed to live up to the expectations associated with a Boxing Day Test.

“To be brutally honest, that’s not really what you want,” Stokes said. “For a Boxing Day Test match, you don’t expect a game to finish in less than two days.”

Stokes went further, suggesting the reaction would have been far harsher had such a pitch been produced outside Australia. “There would be hell on if that pitch had been produced anywhere else,” he told the BBC, highlighting the imbalance that saw 36 wickets fall without a single innings crossing 200.

Australia’s stand-in skipper Steve Smith echoed Stokes’ sentiments, conceding that the surface provided too much help to the bowlers. Smith pointed to the amount of grass left on the pitch as a key factor in the excessive seam movement throughout the match.

“When you see 36 wickets across two days, that’s probably too much,” Smith said. “It probably did a little bit more than they wanted it to. Maybe if we dropped it down to eight millimetres, it would be about right.”

Smith acknowledged that both teams struggled to adapt, with batters rarely given the chance to settle as the ball continued to nip around.

Reflecting on Australia’s twin batting collapses, Smith felt that a lack of meaningful partnerships prevented the game from evolving. “If we could have just built a couple of those partnerships, perhaps the ball would have softened a bit and the game would have played a little easier,” he explained.

The relentless assistance for seamers meant batters were constantly under threat, turning what is usually a five-day spectacle into a frenetic, stop-start contest dominated by bowlers.

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Two-day finishes at the MCG are rare and often remembered for extraordinary circumstances. While some observers likened the match to classic bowler-friendly Tests of the past, many felt this contest crossed the line, depriving fans of extended play at one of cricket’s most celebrated venues.

The independence enjoyed by Australian curators also became a talking point, with Stokes hinting at double standards in how pitches are judged globally. He stressed that while conditions cannot be changed once a match begins, marquee fixtures deserve surfaces that allow a fair contest between bat and ball.

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