’36 wickets across two days is too much’ – Steven Smith reacts as Boxing Day Test gets premature end

Australia’s standby captain Steven Smith felt the Melbourne Cricket Ground pitch did ‘too much’ while discussing on how the fourth Test of the ongoing Ashes 2025-26 played out. England won the low-scoring Boxing Day encounter by four wickets, a game that lasted less than two days, to finally win a Test match in Down Under in almost 15 years.

Smith stated how the extra layering of grass on the deck made the pitch a bowling paradise and also a place where not a lot of batters could settle in to make their start count into a substantial score.

“Yeah, I think a little bit too much. It was tricky, no one could really get in. I think when you see 36 wickets across two days, that’s probably too much. So probably, it did a little bit more than they (the curators) would have wanted. Maybe if we drop it (the grass) down to 8 mm, it’d be about right, potentially,” shared Smith during the post-match presentation.

The experienced cricketer rued the fact that the hosts were potentially 50–60 runs short in both the innings that they batted in. The 36-year-old admitted that the English top-order’s dynamic approach during the chase meant that the ball did not offer a lot for the more bowlers, as compared to its normal behaviour across the three innings.

“Tricky one, obviously a very quick game. If we’d managed that extra 50 or 60 runs across both innings, we probably would’ve been right in the contest at the end. I think it did a fair amount throughout the game, just probably when the ball softened after a few lusty blows from their top order today, it started to do a little bit less potentially. But without that, I think it was still going to offer plenty,” he added.

The fourth Test, like the first one, got over before two full days could get completed. Australia were defeated by four wickets. The tourists finally had one back under their belt after losing the first three matches. Josh Tongue received the Player of the Match award for his match haul of seven wickets.

The fifth and final match of what has been a fairly one-sided series is scheduled to commence from January 4 and will be hosted at the historic venue of the Sydney Cricket Ground. England will aim at ending the series with another win under their belt.