AUS v IND 2018-19: Mitchell Starc and Peter Siddle hope to be surprised by MCG pitch in Boxing Day Test

Mitchell Starc and Peter Siddle are excited to play on the newly-laid pitch.

The Boxing Day Test against India will be played at the new pitch in Melbourne | Getty Images

Australian fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and Peter Siddle are expecting the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) will serve the cricketing giants an exciting wicket for the Boxing Day Test to be played from December 26 (Wednesday) here against India.

Actually, the MCG wicket is unknown for both Starc and Siddle, who is yet to feature in the Australian XI in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, at the moment, as the duo did not know how the new pitch would behave in the third Test but are excited to play at the newly-laid pitch.

The MCG has improved the playing surface after receiving the negative rating from the International Cricket Council (ICC) after only 24 wickets fell in five days last year in a drawn match against England, while Starc and Siddle are hoping that it will be a competitive Test at the new look track.

Starc told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday, “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.”

He continued, “It sounds like they've been trying a few things with the (Sheffield) Shield cricket there in the first few rounds. I think it may be a surprise, what they actually dish out next week.”

Meanwhile, new MCG curator Matt Page has tried to inject more life into the pitch and Siddle said the curator knows what “he's got to do now leading into the Test match”.

Siddle signed off by saying, “I played a couple matches ago when I got back from the UAE against South Australia and it was actually a good cricket wicket. It's going to be a good one and I think the boys should be excited and there's definitely going to be a result wicket I think, going by what's happened in the first couple of Shield games this season.”

(With India Today Inputs)

 
 

By Rashmi Nanda - 20 Dec, 2018

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