MCC curator forced to defend practice pitches used by India

Melbourne Cricket Club curator Matt Page has defended the preparation of net pitches offered up to India before the Boxing Day Test as visiting media raise the spectre of a “conspiracy” against the tourists.

In a week of escalating tensions since the tourists arrived in Melbourne, India’s players noted they were not given the best pitches available at the MCG at training on Saturday and Sunday, while their press gallery reported that the net pitches the team trained on were low and slow, and batsmen too easily played off the front foot.

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, pictured here in the MCG nets on Saturday, had to adjust to a practice pitch more akin to that used for white-ball cricket. Credit: Getty Images

After an Indian website ran the headline, “Australia’s conspiracy against India? Visitors given flat pitch with low bounce for MCG practice”, Page explained standard protocols were being followed at the MCG this year. Those protocols meant the Test-quality practice wickets became available for both teams to train on from Monday – three days before the Test – a day when the Indian team chose not to train.

“For us, three days out, we prepare Test match pitches for here. If teams come and train before that, they get what pitches we have had,” Page said on Monday.

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