Melbourne: The Melbourne Cricket Ground is steeped in history. The city was founded in 1835 and by 1846, members of the Melbourne Cricket Club began using a site on the south side of the Yarra River, opposite King Street, on October 3. This became the first Melbourne Cricket Ground.
In 1877, teams representing Australia and England played what is regarded as the first Test match (March 15-19). During the match, Charles Bannerman scored the first century in Test cricket. In 1879, Fred Spofforth took the first Test hat-trick on the opening day of the only Test that summer (v England, January 2-4). Spofforth took 13 wickets for the match, becoming the first player to take 10 wickets in a Test.
In 1881, a scoreboard, reputed to be the first of its type in the world, was erected. It showed the batsman’s name and how he was dismissed. In 1895, The fifth Test between Australia and England from March 1-6 drew a total match attendance of 103,636 over the five days. It was the first time in Australia that a cricket match attracted over 100,000 spectators. So many firsts. This is what history feels like.
It started with that but the MCG has hosted everything from the Olympics in 1956, athletics, bowling, baseball, bicycling and Australian Rules Football. And as you walk towards the stadium, you first see the concourse which pays tribute to some of Australia’s greatest athletes to grace the stadium — from sprinter Betty Cuthbert and Don Bradman to Shane Warne. And all this is just on the outside.
And then you step foot on the field and you imagine what it will be like to have over 90,000 people in the stands. It can be intimidating, set the butterflies aflutter. For an Indian cricket team in transition, for a team which has players who dreamed of playing in Australia, this is a big moment. Then again, it takes a lot to put off the current Indian cricketer and Melbourne holds a lot of good memories for them.
India eye a hat-trick
India have won at Melbourne the last two times, and of their 10 wins in Australia, four have come at the venue. Each one of them is legendary. The first came in 1977 — India beat Australia by 222 runs, and it was their first win Down Under (another first!). The next win in 1981 was all about Gundappa Viswanath (114 and 30) and Kapil Dev, who ripped through the Australian batting line-up with 5/28 in the fourth innings despite a groin injury. It took a long time for the next win at the venue to come but 2018 saw the arrival of Jasprit Bumrah with a brilliant 6/33. And then, India did the double thanks to Ajinkya Rahane’s stunning 112 in tough batting conditions on the 2020/21 tour.
Since 2021, the pitch has always had something for the bowlers. If the batters can get through the initial period, then there are runs on offer. But in a series where the two bowling line-ups have dominated, the batters know that they will be up against it. Extreme heat has also been forecast on the first day of the match and that could cause the pitch to break up a bit too.
“The pitch looks really good, quite consistent to what it has here for the last few years I think,” said Australia skipper Pat Cummins on Wednesday. “A bit of grass coverage, feels nice and firm. So, they’ve done a great job here for probably the last five, six years. I suspect the same this year. What impact the heat will have on it? I don’t know really. We’ll get to the ground tomorrow and kind of assess, but yeah, it looks like a good wicket.”
In a sense, the bowling line-ups are quite evenly matched – Bumrah, of course, has been unreal as the 21 wickets at an average of 10.90 show. But Australia counter that with Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins. They are also bringing in Scott Boland into the playing XI and he has a brilliant record at the G.
Boland has played only 11 Tests in all but has taken 40 wickets at an average of 20.42. So, Josh Hazlewood is a very good bowler but Australia have more than decent backup.
The big problem for India has been their batting and if Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant can find some runs, the team will be in a much better space because, as things stand, the bowlers really haven’t had much to bowl at.
Head passes fitness test
For Australia, the big worry was Travis Head’s availability but he was put through a fitness test on Christmas and he got through that alright.
“Trav’s good to go, so he’ll play,” said Cummins. “Just ticked off some final things today and yesterday. But no stress, no kind of worries about injury with Trav. So, he’ll go into the game fully fit.”
Cummins added: “I don’t think you’ll see too much management of him throughout the game. He just kind of plays as is, but maybe around fielding if he’s a bit uncomfortable, we will. But he’s, yeah, fully fit.”
Still, the toss could be an important factor in the game. No one wants to be out on the field all day under the harsh sun and it can take a lot out of the players. From that perspective, both teams will want to win the toss and bat first. It gets cooler after that and that just allows the pacers to run in that little bit faster.
The MCG was last sold out in 2013 and 2006 saw a record breaking day but never for a Border Gavaskar Trophy Test — and in that sense, we will be breaking new ground. If anything, the packed stadium will only enhance the gladiatorial feel of the historic arena and, hopefully, push two very good sides into a memorable contest.
