No batter from Australia and England managed to hit a fifty in Melbourne Test, which lasted only two days.
Australia legend Greg Chappell has delivered scathing assessment of batting collapses in the ongoing Ashes series, arguing that modern Test batters surrender too easily and the game is flirting with an identity crisis at its highest level.
The Boxing Day Test in Melbourne finished inside two days, with England defeating Australia by four wickets. The MCG surface was prepared with 10 millimetres of grass on the wicket, making it heavily favourable for the pace bowlers. A total of 20 wickets fell on the opening day while 16 wickets tumbled on Day 2 as no batter managed to hit a half-century across the match.
However, Chappell attributed batters’ failure to lack of technique and temperament rather than bowlers being unplayable.
“Two Tests in the series have failed to reach day three, not due to superior skill but a glaring absence of desire. Batters slashed wildly, abandoning technique for bravado, as if playing their ‘natural game’ excused capitulation,” Chappell wrote in a column on ESPNcricinfo.
Notably, 19 wickets fell on Day 1 of the Ashes opener at Perth. That match also ended inside two days, with the hosts emerging victorious by eight wickets.
Chappell added, “They let down predecessors who bled for this rivalry; they shortchanged fans who braved the holiday heat; they betrayed their own generation by forsaking cricket’s core tenets - playing each ball on merit, scrapping for every run, enduring bruises for the greater good.”
The former Aussie skipper also highlighted the influence of white-ball cricket, where power and instant impact are rewarded more consistently than time spent absorbing pressure.
“I get that white-ball cricket has changed the game, and power is valued more in the marketplace today than the ability to absorb pressure, but if the modern player does value Test cricket, as they say, then they must show it by being able to bat collectively for a minimum of 100 overs in any conditions. If they can’t, or won’t, do that, then the format is doomed,” he remarked.
The five-match Ashes series currently stands at 3-1. The fifth and final Test will be played at SCG from January 4.