India vs Australia | Don’t know what to expect from Melbourne pitch, reckons Mitchell Starc

12/20/2018

Mitchell Starc has stated that the MCG pitch is bound to be full of surprises for both the teams involved as head curator Matt Page attempted to inject more life into the wicket for the Sheffield Shield season. Last year during the Ashes series, the pitch at the MCG had received a ‘poor’ rating.

Ahead of the eagerly awaited Boxing day Test, Mitchell Starc revealed that he has no idea what kind of ‘surprise’ awaits both teams at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. A lot has changed, as far as the pitch at the MCG is concerned, after ICC officials gave the pitch a ‘poor’ rating during the Ashes series last year.

In fact, during the early stages of this year’s Sheffield Shield, head curator Matt Page made an attempt to inject more life into the drop-in wicket by putting a layer of sand between the concrete base and the pitch trays which resulted in more grass on the pitch. This pre-match pitch preparation method is expected to be repeated for the boxing day Test as well.

"I don't know what to expect. I didn't play last year. I had to watch from the side and it didn't do a thing for five days so hopefully they've sorted it out. It sounds like they've been trying a few things with the Shield cricket there in the first few rounds.

"I think it may be a surprise, what they actually dish out next week, but I think we'll just sort of review this week and enjoy a moment of reflecting on the hard work we've had to do this week and then we'll focus on Melbourne when we get there," Starc told ESPNCricinfo.

Starc, who picked up five wickets in the second Test in Perth, lauded the efforts of his fellow Australian pacers who have also played a significant role with the bat in the ongoing series against India.

"It's an interesting one. It's something that we all work really hard at and we have done for a long time. Pat's obviously fantastic at eight. He plays a bit more like a batter than the other three of us he can bat for long periods of time," Starc said.

"I think it just showed in Adelaide how many balls he can face and really he looks comfortable at the crease. He may not at times feel that way but he looks very comfortable and, when he's batting with someone like Painey or other batsmen, it's just fantastic. Those partnerships make India bowl a lot more overs and then the other three of us we just try and hang around a bit and score a few runs and face a few balls.

"It's something that I think our tail takes a lot of pride in. And then with the ball we're trying to do the exact opposite for them and try to get them out really quickly," the 28-year old added.

India vs Australia | Don’t know what to expect from Melbourne pitch, reckons Mitchell Starc

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