Last Updated on 1 hour ago by Charbel Coorey
Between 1945 and 2022, Australia played just one two-day Test. Since December 2022, Australia have hosted four, and it’s becoming a significant issue for Cricket Australia (CA).
Pat Cummins’ team smashed Bangladesh inside two days, winning by an innings and 51 runs despite their own shoddy performance with the bat. In fact, 210 is the lowest total to result in an innings victory in 80 years, and fourth-lowest ever.
The Mackay pitch is now in the spotlight after a Test where only 369 runs were scored. Was the surface that bad or did the batters not show enough application? It is being compared to the Gabba pitch of 2022 and MCG pitch of 2025, where both surfaces were rated poor. The Perth pitch to kickstart the 2025 Ashes was given an “very good” rating despite the two-day finish.
Debate: Was the Mackay pitch poor? Fans have their say
Mackay’s Test debut lasted just two days. Its 750 deliveries is the fourth-shortest completed men’s Test in history.
Mitchell Starc likened the surface to the Gabba, with bounce aplenty for the fast bowlers. Despite the cricket on fast forward, Starc said it was a good pitch.
“People will see 18 wickets and say it’s a bad wicket. I think it’s a very good day one wicket,” Starc said after the first day, as quoted by cricinfo.
“It’s probably played very similar to a Gabba wicket. You see some tennis-ball bounce early on day one at the Gabba like today. It’s probably going to quicken up again and once a bit of that hardness of the ball wears off, there’s less sideways [movement], but with the square that we’ve got here, it’s swung throughout the day. A pretty helter-skelter day of cricket, but I’d say some good bowling led to 18 wickets.”
Nathan Lyon, who faced 62 balls, said he “thought the pitch was brilliant” in an interview with Kayo Sports. However, Najmul Hossain Shanto said the Mackay pitch was “quite difficult to bat to be very honest.”
Argument: Mackay pitch was fine, batting was poor
On one side of the coin, fans believe the surface was not one for a two-day Test. There was assistance for the fast bowlers, but the lack of application on display is worrying for Test cricket.
Argument: Pitch had too much in it
On the other side of the coin, fans believe the Mackay track had too much assistance for the fast bowlers, giving the batters very little chance of surviving, let alone scoring runs. There is also a theory that Australia prepared a very bowler-friendly surface to salvage the series.
Both Australia and Bangladesh will play their next Test in South Africa. Australia’s three-match series begins on October 9. Bangladesh’ will’s two-match series starts on November 15.
