Australia vs England Test. Results after 142 overs played in two days. Although England won their first Ashes Test on Australian soil in 15 years, many are criticizing the pitch at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

More than 92,000 fans were left in a state of dismay after Australia's second innings was bowled out for 132 on the second day. England then chased down the target of 175 for six, leading to a roar from the visiting 'Barmy Army'.

This is the same pitch where 20 wickets fell on the first day. Australia were bowled out for 152 in their first innings. England could only manage 110 in reply. Both Australia captain Steve Smith and his England counterpart Ben Stokes questioned the quality of the pitch.

'To be honest, it's not the pitch we wanted,' said England captain Stokes. 'We all know the importance of the Boxing Day Test. But no one wants a Test of such importance to be over in two days. It was not playable. But once the game started, it couldn't be changed. There was no choice but to play the way the pitch played.'

Australia captain Smith said that the 10-millimetre depth of the pitch made it difficult for the bowlers to bat on both sides of the seam. 'The pitch was a bit tricky, it was difficult for everyone to play. If you lose more than 36 wickets in two days, that is definitely too much,' Smith said. 'It was probably a bit more than they wanted. It would have been better to reduce it to 8 millimetres.'

Cricket Australia chief Todd Greenberg said that the shortened Test would also be detrimental to business. The highest number of wickets fell on the first day of an Ashes Test since 1909. 19 wickets also fell on the first day of the first Test in Perth. That Test was also completed in two days. Cricket Australia has lost millions of dollars in its revenue because of this. 

‘Simply put, it’s bad for business, I don’t think there’s much more to it than that,’ said Greenberg. ‘So I’d like to see a bit more balance between bat and ball.’ Former England captain Michael Vaughan called the Melbourne pitch a ‘joke’. He said such a Test could end the game. Another former England captain, Alastair Cook, called it ‘unfair competition’.

Curators in Australia are free to set pitches. Captains and Cricket Australia are not allowed to influence it. Greenberg believes that intervention is needed after this incident. ‘Especially when you see the impact on the business, it seems like there needs to be more involvement. The ground staff need to look at this a bit more.’

Harry Brooks and Jamie Smith played unbeaten innings of 18 and 3 to guide England to victory. Earlier, Jacob Bethell scored 40 and Jack Crawley scored 37. England were heavily criticised after losing the first three Tests without putting any pressure on Australia.