Ashes: Ben Stokes slams pitch after victory in MCG

England’s Test captain Ben Stokes has said that if a pitch like the one prepared at the MCG had been served elsewhere in the world, there would have been a strong backlash.

England have won the fourth Test of the Ashes by four wickets inside two days, making this the second Test of the series to finish in two days.

The last series to feature two multiple two-day tests was played in 1992, while Australia have hosted just four two-day tests.

Although there was no dangerous bounce, the consistent and excessive seam movement during the match made it very difficult for batters. It was the first since 1932 in Australia that no individual batter reached 50 in a Test match.

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Stokes talked boldly about the surface post-match.

“Being brutally honest, that’s not really what you want,” Stokes said.

“Boxing Day Test match. You don’t want a game finishing in less than two days. Not ideal. But you can’t change it once you start the game and you’ve just got to play what’s in front of you.

“But I’m pretty sure if that was somewhere else in the world, there’d be hell on. Not the best thing for games that should be played over five days. But we played a type of cricket that ended up getting the job done.”

Stokes was then asked if his reaction would be the same if a two-day Test had been played on a pitch in the subcontinent.

“It’s your words, not mine,” Stokes said.

The England men’s team have won a test match on Australian soil after almost 15 years.

On a difficult pitch, which will continue to come under criticism in the aftermath, it was England’s top order that delivered to chase down a target of 175 with aggression.

Young Jacob Bethell, who was recalled for this match, scored a fighting 40 to help steer his team to a victory.

Josh Tongue was the player of the match, who took seven wickets in the match.

Australia is 3-1 up in the Ashes, with the final Test scheduled to be played at Sydney Cricket Ground from January 4 to 8.

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