Steve Smith was thrown by Josh Tongue for 9 rounds (AFP photo) NEW DELHI: A total of 20 wickets fell on the opening day of the fourth Test between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Friday as Australia made 152 before dismissing England for just 110.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SIGN UP NOW!The dramatic collapse on both sides has sparked concern at Cricket Australia, with chief executive Todd Greenberg warning the shortened Tests are bad for business, even as several of the game’s biggest names have criticized the state of the MCG pitch.
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It was the highest number of wickets taken on the first day of an Ashes Test since 1909, after 19 wickets were taken on the first day of the series opener in Perth.That match ended in two days and cost Cricket Australia millions of dollars in lost revenue, and the Melbourne Test also looms as a potential financial blow to the governing body.“I didn’t sleep well last night, put it that way,” Greenberg said on SEN radio after more than 94,000 packed into the MCG for the first day on Friday.“It was an amazing day of Test cricket, so for the record number of people who were there, boy did they have an experience.“But our challenge is to make sure we can continue those experiences day after day. That’s a challenge for all of us.”The pitch in Melbourne was prepared with 10 millimeters of grass on the wicket, so it was very favorable for bowlers with plenty of movement and bounce under cloudy skies. Greenberg said the trend towards shorter Test matches was not in Cricket Australia’s interest.“The simple phrase I would use is short Tests are bad for business. I can’t be more blunt,” he said.“So I’d like to see a bit more balance between bat and ball.A number of former greats have criticized the pitch in Melbourne, with former England captain Michael Vaughan calling it a “joke” on Saturday.“This sells the game short,” he added, while another former England captain, Alastair Cook, called it an “unfair competition”.Curators in Australia have traditionally been independent in terms of pitch preparation, both from the captains and Cricket Australia.Greenberg suggested that a more interventionist approach might be needed.“It’s hard not to get more involved when you see the impact on sport, especially commercial,” he said.“I’m not suggesting that I’m going to go and talk to the ground staff, but we have to watch carefully what our expectations are over the course of the summer.”(With inputs from AFP)
