There was a time in the middle of the previous decade when Australian pitches offered next to no encouragement for bowlers.
On England’s Ashes tour of 2017-18, the fourth Test in Melbourne yielded more than 1,000 runs for only 24 wickets. The Melbourne Cricket Ground was given a warning by the International Cricket Council for what the governing body deemed a ‘poor’ surface.
Since England last visited Australia in 2021-22, pitches have given much more to the bowlers.
For the past four years, pitches in this country have been rated as faster, bouncier and more inconsistent than anywhere else in the world. Pace, bounce and inconsistency is the perfect recipe for tough batting.
At this point, it is worth stating there is a subjectivity to what constitutes a ‘good’ pitch.
Quite often, a pitch can be described as ‘good’ when it is friendly for batting, yet that does not always produce the most thrilling spectacle.
Perhaps it is better to describe a ‘good’ pitch as one that produces an even contest between bat and ball.
Pitches also change over the course of a Test, offering different challenges to batters and bowlers as a match progresses.
Take the first Ashes Test as an example. In the first three innings, the highest total was 172 and batting looked devilishly difficult.
In the final innings, Australia’s run chase, Travis Head made a target of 205 look minuscule. The run chase could have been much more difficult on the fifth day of a Test, when a pitch would be at its oldest and most worn.
Because of the rapid nature of the first Test, Head was batting on the second evening, when the pitch may have been at its best for run-scoring.
“The pitch was brilliant,” said former Australia opener Simon Katich on BBC Radio 5 Live.
“For Australia to chase 200 for the loss of two wickets summed it up. In Australia if you can wear the new ball down you will score quickly from 40 to 50 overs. England weren’t able to do that and paid the price.”
