Lets discuss in detail Pitch report and Analysis of MCG Melbourne Australia.
Australia’s premier sporting venue, the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)is famous for two things – it’s the biggest cricket stadium in the world, and second, its light towers are the tallest for any sporting venue.
Known affectionately as ‘The G’ by locals.
What is meant by Boxing Day match in Australia?
MCG annually host the Boxing Day Test cricket match. Boxing Day means that which starts after 25 december in Australia and start the summer season of cricket in Australia.
What is the Capacity of MCG Melbourne Australia ?
The Adelaide Oval Stadium Australia has a seating capacity of about 100020 spectators.
Boundary Length/Size/Dimensions of MCG Melbourne Australia
One side of the mid-wicket boundary at the MCG is around 84 meters, so the batters will have to use brute force in order to clear that part of the ground. The straighter boundary and the other side of the mid-wicket are around 76 meters, whereas the square boundaries are also around 75 meters.
No doubt world’s biggest stadium in terms of boundary size.
Pitch Report and Analysis of MCG Melbourne Australia
Melbourne Cricket Ground is a stadium that has been loved by both batters and bowlers as this has been one of the most competitive tracks in Australia. This ground used drop-in pitches which have a lot of bounce that makes the game quite lively.
The MCG pitch is known as one of the most competitive in the world. It has a perfect balance between bat and ball. While bowlers may receive some assistance early on because of mostly genuine bounce, as it ages, the batters may freely execute their strokes.
MCG Melbourne pitch has everyting for everyone. A good batsman can middle the ball nicely due to the pace and bounce on the pitch. The bigger boundaries of the ground bring the bowlers into the play as well.
The pacers are a threat throughout the five days. They average 29.02, bowl at an economy of 2.68, and have a strike rate of 64.8.
Unlike what we have seen and already predicted previously in this series that spinners don’t get much help in Gabba and Adelaide, but MCG is different. Spinners keep getting threatening as the game progresses. They have an overall average of 33.26 at MCG but in the final innings, spinners average 25.83 and strike every 63 balls.
In tests, there will be plenty in it for the fast bowlers. As the sun beats down, batting will become easier. It might be stacky at the start. The first couple of hours will be a real test for the batters.
T20 Stats at MCG Melbourne Australia
The average 1st innings score has been 162 runs in T20 match.The team batting first has advantage to restrict the team batting second.
Melbourne Stars vs Sydney Sixers, 28th Match 6.01.2024
Pitch has lot of bouance and pace. Hitting the boundries was not very easy. Although Melbourne Stars openers has given a stand of 40 in 5 overs. Then also some slog hits by Maxwell who scored 31 runs for only 14 balls with 2 sixes and 4 fours. Other batters struggle to score freely and team ended up with socre of 156/4 in 20 overs. In resposne Sydney Sixers chased down easily due to weakness in Melbourne Stars bowling. There was not regular fast bowler and they also lack in quality spinners. On the other hand Sydney Sixers has quality bowling side. Spinners like Murphy and Keefe. Faset bowlers Dwarshuis, Abbot, Tom Curran. Hence bowling was the difference between two teams. So sydney sixers won the match due to no real threat from Melburne Stars Bowlers. Melbourne Star has Maxwell, Imad Waseem, Boland, Joel Paris, Beau Webster. Their fast bowlers were the most expensive ones.
Melbourne Renegades vs Melbourne Stars, 23rd Match – BBL 2025
Melbourne Renegades made 168/7 in 20 overs. A 71 runs stand between Bethell and Wells gave the innings the innings some much needed impetus. The surface has some extra bounce. In reply Melbourne Stars won the do or die derby match and chased down the score in 19.4 overs for the loss of 5 wickets. Was not easy chase to begin with but Duckett set the tone at the top and then his stand with Stoinis was worth 83 which put the target within touching distance. Earlier, the Stars were in trouble as they slipped to 3/2. At the end, few lusty blows by Catwright and Maxwell took it to the last over. That’s how you won games with the partnerships. An exciting contest of the BBL 2024-25.
Other Factors taking into consideration with Pitch to predict the Winner
Toss too has affect on the match result. If the pitch is batting friendly. Then obviously team winning the toss love to bowl first and chase it down on a batting paradise pitch. It is easy to chase down total on a batting friendly pitch.
If the pitch is balanced one for both batters and bowlers, then toss has little impact on the match result.
If pitch has something for the bowlers. The team winning the toss love to bowl first and exploit the pitch in the 1st innings and bowl out the opposite site on low total. Even there are also fair chances for the team bowling in 2nd innings to restrict the side by exploiting the pitch pace and bounce. Turn if the pitch got slower and spin.
On pitches where pitches get slower with passage of time. Team want to bat first and exploit the slowness of pitch by bowling slow deliveries and by putting on spinners.
2.Host Team prepare Pitch on their Strength
Host team always has advantage of their home grounds. Host team prepare pitches according to their team strengths. Like India make batting flat pitches as there batting is awlays strong and powerful. Sometimes against Australia and England, they make spin friendly pitches as Spin is their main weapon against these teams. Australia make pitches with pace and bounce as fast bowing at their home grounads is their main strength. This factor is also an important factor and can impact the match result also.
3.Dew affect on the Match Result
Dew also has affect on the match. If there is dew factor on the ground. Team love to chase as bowl became wet. Very difficult for the team bowling 2nd to grip the ball properly.
4.Weather Conditions affect on the Match Result
Weather too play the role. In case of rain, team try to chase the total as they have score in mind that is to be chased down.
5.Proper Discipline and Execution
Look at the matches played daily in the world. Some teams come to play on the stadium with proper planning,strategy and discipline. They excute better than the rival team. So team analysis is very important who is the captain of this team, team management and coaches, fighting instincts in the team etc.
For example, yesterday match was played between Mumbai Indians Women and Royal Challengers Women of WPL 2024. MI Women come with proper planning,goals and strategy even Harman preet Kaur and Shabnim Ismail were injured and not playing.
6.Strong team vs Weak Team
Like Multans Sultans is appearing to be the most balanced team in PSL 2024. They have good batters and very strong squad in bowlinng too. Hence they are at the top in the points table. On the other hand Lahore Qalandars and Karachi Kings are weak in this PSL and they are at the bottom. Lahore Qalandars unable to find right combinnation without Rashid Khan, Tim David and some other overseas players absence.
Very important factor in winning the match is team analysis of two teams.Pitch conditions are exception if the match is b/w a strong team and a weak team. Strong team is always favorite to win a cricket match. In current era, India and Australia are strong teams. Both teams have quality batters and bowlers. They are always favorite whatever the pitch condition is. Same applies to T20 leagues teams in IPL, BBL, PSL etc. Strong teams batters and bowlers have the requisite skills to win the match in their team favor. So team analysis is very important to assess before the match to preditct which team can win the match. For my point of view, team analysis is more important than pitch conditions. In BBL matches also strong and favorite teams have upper hand in the match.
7.Presence of X Factor Players in the Team
If one team has more X factor players then that team has more chance of winning the match. X factor players are those players who can win the match for his team single handedly. Like in first match of KKR in IPL 204, Andress Russell won match for KKR when they were in worse condition top batters were out. It seems that on batting friendly Eden Gardens Kolkata team was going to score only 140-150 but Andree Russel innings of 64 in just 25 balls with a strike rate of 256 with with seven 6s and three 4s.That was unbeliveable batting. Andree Russel also took 2 wickets as he is an all rounder.
Travis Head, Pat Cummins,Buttler,Pant, Chahal, Rashid Khan, Bumrah, Hardik Pandya,Rohit Sharma,Kohli, Siraj, Surayakumar Yadav,Pooran, Hasaranga,Parag,Abhishek Sharma,Jaiswal and many more are some of the examples of X factor players. If team has more X factors players like RR and SRH in IPL 204. These team have ofcourse more chance of winning the match and we are also seeing on ongoing IPL 2024. Both RR and SRH are winning.
X factor players are also called match winner players and they are purchased at a very high price and some clicket while the tournament goes on. Like Parag, Abhishek Sharma developed as match winners in IPL 2024.
8.Poor Team Selection/ Cominbation and Team Conflict
This is the responsiblity of the captain, team owners and team management to select the best strong and balanced team from auction and trade window. Otherswise team can suffer hugely. If playing XI is balanced with good team combination ofcourse the winning team is predictable almost 70%. Sometimes something is not in your hand like if the pitch is very batting friendly. Team chasing has 70% chance of winning.
That too is a big factor. Like in IPL 2024, Rajhastan Royals and SRH selcted the best team. Their think tank were wise and sharp. That is why they are enable to find the right combination and a perfect team. They have good analysis of players. They have more X factor players like Travis Head, Pat Cummins, Klassen, Buneshver kumar. Abhishek Sharma also clicked with a big impact. Same is the case of RR. They are now rebuild a strong balanced team. Team has many X factor players like Butler, Samson, Parag, Boult, Burger,Chahal, Sandeep Sharma, Ashwin. So both teams are winning even on batting friendly pitches of India.
Mumbai Indians this IPL 2024 is suffering at initial stage. Mumbai Indians replaced Rohit Sharma with Hardik Pandya as captain. MI unable to fight a very balanced and strong team for IPL 2024. The team is exposed. Also SRK Yadav is injured and Kishan is out of form. Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma are their X facctor players. But not all XI are plyaing their part. Their overseas selection is not performing at excellent level. Team combination is also suffering. Two big legends are in the team one joined the team sa captain and the other one is left by team managemnt. It also contributed negatively on the Mumbai Indians for IPL 2024.
Mumbai Indians lost plenty of followers on their social media platforms when Hardik Pandya replaced Rohit Sharma as Mumbai’s captain a few months back, and the Mumbai fans haven’t shown any mercy to their new skipper since the start of the tournament either. They have trolled Hardik at Ahmedabad and Hyderabad, and the crowd at the Wankhede can be even more brutal, given the history of IPL at this particular venue. Even Virat Kohli has been booed here in the past. Hopefully this backlash doesn’t dent Hardik’s confidence going forward. Can he put up a better performance and earn the trust of MI fans?
Mumbi Indians have not been helped by off-field issues which have threatned to derail their compaign this season if not being settled soon.
There is lot of pressure mainly on two big players, Hardi Pandya and Rohit Sharma to perform due to captaincy decision change.
9. Assessing the Pitch Conditions
In T20 World Cup 2024 match, Sri Lanka will rue the fact that they did not show application while batting and did not assess the pitch or the conditions well. That’s where the game was lost. Another 30-40 runs on this and it could well have been a different story. Srilanka scored only 77 runs on a tricky slow surface. If they score 120. They can be in a position to win the match.
10. Home Ground and Home Crowd Advantage
There is also advantage of home ground. Australia always has the advantage of being the home team. Same likely Sydney Sixers has the advantage as Sydney cricket ground is where they prepare and train. Play home matches here in BBL. Then there are the fans, who always cheer and up the confidence of the home team by slogans and pleasing smiles and voices. These boosts up the confidence and energy of the home team. Like India in India is difficult to beat as being the favorites on home ground and having local crowed advantages who came to see them on the venue in thounsads.
Hope you enjoy the sports blog on pitch report and analysis of MCG Melbourne Australia.
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