England bowling very short as far as i can see. Also i think they lacked a bit of energy early

I'd like to see both teams bat on this before making a judgement but looks like the pitch is two paced and has a bit of swing and seem particularly with the old ball but you have to be brave enough to pitch it up

I reckon a par score is 300-350 so I think englands negative bowling has got them in trouble but you never know until both teams have batted on the same surface

I see lots of mentions of this pitch being very flat but that 2nd session the pitch was very difficult to bat on. Ball is holding up on the pitch a lot and is a bit of movement as seen in the wicket deliveries, luckily England only got it right for one session. 

yeah the pitch match was very short. Harsh to judge a pitch by crap bowling

australia on par imo

more overs they bat here the better though since this pitch will get harder everday

England and Australia both with 3 players passing 50, Alistair Cook making the difference, he has gone on with it and made a huge score while Warner made 103.

England are definitely on top being 170 in front with only 9 wickets down.

Yesterday it made a big difference with no Starc and Cummins being ill.

This test just shows how much we missed Starc, he'd have ripped through this tail instead the tail have added an extra 200 runs.

There was a comment from Michael Clarke or Ian Chappell today about how he often swings the old ball and has been very effective against the English tail.

I have to admit I enjoyed Cook making all those runs, because we've already won the Ashes and he has been written off. Smith's two dropped catches were really punished by Cook. He looked pretty composed when he got his eye in.

Khawaja and Bancroft fail again, i'd be making 3 changes to the batting lineup for Sydney. Renshaw, Burns and Maxwell to return

A bit of a dull test really. Cook played a magnificent innings, the best I’ve seen him bat I think. But the MCG pitch is an absolute dud. Slow, dry and with no sideways movement whatsoever off the pitch.

I’m really getting tired of watching tests where the pitch offers nothing for the bowlers at all. The MCG has been notorious for this over the past few years.

Let’s hope the SCG deck has some spice in it for the bowlers.

There has been ongoing concern about drop in pitches being lifeless, dead pitches, devoid of character. The consensus is they don't make for attractive cricket. It has been good to see a bloke like Cook make a lot of runs after suggestions he is past it, but the MCG test hasn't been a good pitch for attractive cricket. There hasn't been a lot of bounce, seam, swing or spin for the bowlers. It is a shame because the MCG crowds have been huge for this test.

Usman is a worry. He is supposed to be good on Australian pitches and he hasn't taken his opportunity. Bancroft is still young, but after watching Renshaw display a very good defence on the subcontinent and be able to bat time, I think we need him back ASAP despite being out of form with his attacking shots. The Marshes have shown value to the team in this series, but Usman is supposed to be the one stepping up and he hasn't delivered. 

I'd bat both Maxwell and Smith at 5 and 6 and move Shaun up the order. There aren't players at Shield level banging down the door with weight of runs. Bird has also looked pedestrian bowling on a flat pitch. Our fast bowling depth isn't as good with Starc injured and Pattinson returning from injury.

Khawaja has failed to deliver and must be close to being dropped

The pitch was bad for bowling and terrible for Bird, worst kind of wicket for him to bowl on.

Joe Burns has come into top form, he could be an option. Apart from him and Maxwell other batsmen have had good innings but not consistent.

However it seems the only change for the Sydney test is Agar added to the squad. Starc should be fit.

it was an interesting pitch in the end. It was a minefield if you looked to score but if you were happy at scoring 3 an over it was a road. It also didn't disentegrate quickly enough


taking nothing away from cook the pitch failed to provide an interesting test match. If you had out and out speed bowlers it might have been ok though but bird really struggled and England only looked like getting wickets when we wanted to up the run rate in the first innings and had no penetration on a 5th day wicket (!!) even with a second new ball (!!)

It reminded me a little of one of the pitches in india

It was a shame the pitch was poor for cricket, given the huge crowds. It was easy to stay in and hard to score runs from a batter's perspective.

The bowlers had little bounce, seam, swing, reverse swing or spin.

Basically nothing for anyone!

I was delighted to see Cook make a huge score after he had been written off. It was good for the series that England dominated on day 2.

Apart from Smith and Warner, and maybe Shaun Marsh, given all the cricket I've seen our Test team play overseas, it doesn't bode well for the next tours.

Players like Maxwell, Bird, Holland, Renshaw, Swepson, Agar, O'Keefe, become much more significant outside Australia. Bird because he is effective on pitches with seam like South Africa, England and NZ, and the spinners because they can all spin the ball a bit on subcontinental pitches.

Renshaw can bat time and has a sound defensive technique. 

Usman is a real worry. His Test reputation to date has been forged on Aussie pitches. He was probably our third ranked batter outside Smith and Warner before this series.