NEW DELHI: England captain Ben Stokes strongly criticized the Melbourne Cricket Ground pitch used for the Boxing Day Test, calling it excessively bowler-friendly after 20 wickets fell on the opening day. Stokes said that had such a surface appeared elsewhere in the world, it would have attracted widespread scrutiny and backlash.

Despite England securing a four-wicket victory, Stokes felt the pitch was unsuitable for a marquee fixture like the Boxing Day Test. His views were echoed by former England batsman Kevin Pietersen and ex-India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik, both of whom questioned the inconsistency in how pitches are judged globally.

England win, yet Ben Stokes still has a problem – here’s why

The trio pointed out that Indian pitches often come under heavy criticism when spinners dominate, while similar conditions in Australia tend to escape the same level of examination, highlighting what they believe is a double standard in pitch assessment.

“Being brutally honest, that’s not really what you want. Boxing Day Test match. You don’t want a game finishing in less than two days. Not ideal. But you can’t change it once you start the game and you’ve just got to play what’s in front of you,” Stokes told the media after the match.

Stokes added that had such a flurry of wickets occurred anywhere else in the world, critics would have been quick to pounce with fierce criticism.

“But I’m pretty sure if that was somewhere else in the world, there’d be hell on. Not the best thing for games that should be played over five days. But we played a type of cricket that ended up getting the job done,” he added.

Asked specifically if he was talking about spin-friendly pitches in Asia, Stokes replied rather tongue-in-cheek, “Your words, not mine.”

The Australian and England bowlers combined to take 20 wickets here on Friday, while the hosts were bundled out for 132 in their second innings in 34.3 overs in a little over one session on Saturday.

The irony was not lost on Pietersen either.

“India ALWAYS gets hammered when wickets fall like crazy on day 1 of a Test and so I hope that Australia gets the same scrutiny! Fair is fair!,” wrote former England skipper Pietersen on X.

The decision to leave 10mm grass on the MCG deck generated massive sideways movement, making batting here a lottery. In all, 36 wickets tumbled in six sessions at Melbourne as the fourth Test ended inside two days with England winning by four wickets.

Australia stand-in captain Steve Smith said the pitch offered a “little too much”.

“(It was a) tricky one… 36 wickets, over two days, probably offered just a little bit too much,” he said.

“It’s tough as a groundsman, he’s always looking for the right sort of balance, I suppose. Last year’s wicket was an outstanding one. It went to day five (and the) last session.”

“In an ideal world, every wicket does that and it’s exciting for everyone, but maybe if you took it (down) from 10(mm) to 8(mm), it would have been a nice challenging wicket, but maybe a little bit more even, I suppose.”

“(The) groundsmen are always learning and you will probably take something from that, no doubt,” he added.

The entire Ashes series so far has seen action only on 13 days out of the total 20 match days. Earlier, the first Test at Perth too ended inside two days with the Aussies clinching it by eight wickets.

“MCG have produced an ordinary pitch here. Can’t believe 2 out of the 4 ashes tests could end in 2 days. For all the hype, 4 ashes tests have happened in just 13 days,” voiced Karthik.

The observations were based on the heavy criticism Indian spinners and pitches often have to encounter when such things happen in the sub-continent.

To trace an instance, the pundits were up in arms when England failed to counter Indian spinners on turners in Ahmedabad during the 2020-21 series.

The visiting side won the first Test at Chennai, but crumbled against Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel in the next three Tests across Chepauk and Ahmedabad when pitches offered increased assistance to spinners.

But such outpouring of anger was less visible when pitches were skewed to help pacers Down Under during the ongoing Ashes.

“This pitch is a joke.. This is selling the game short.. The players/Broadcasters and more importantly the fans.. 26 wickets in 98 overs.”

(With PTI Inputs)