Latest Australia vs England cricket news, fifth Test at SCG, New Year’s Test weather forecast, pitch concerns after MCG debacle, Kim Hughes comments on Cam Green, Joe Root press conference

The International Cricket Council is set to hand down an ‘unsatisfactory’ rating of the hotly-scrutinsed MCG pitch that saw less than two days play on it this Boxing Day Test.

SEN’s Tom Morris reports that Cricket Australia “aren’t expected to appeal” the verdict from match referee Jeff Crowe, with the corporation expected to lose north of $10 million due to no play on days three, four or five.

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Contrastingly, the first Test in Perth, which finished five balls quicker than the MCG match, was rated ‘very good’.

A ‘very good’ rating is the highest of the four categories, with ‘satisfactory’, ‘unsatisfactory’ and ‘unfit’ below it.

The most recent pitch deemed ‘unsatisfactory’ by the ICC before this was for a 50-over match at Dhaka, Bangladesh in October.

The grading can be awarded if a pitch “does not allow an even contest between bat and ball” by “favouring the bowlers too much, with too many wicket-taking opportunities for either seam or spin”.

The findings are expected to be made official inside the next 24 hours, which will see the venue awarded one demerit point.

If a ground is given six demerit points over a five-year period, it can be banned from hosting matches for 12 months, though this is exceedingly unlikely to occur in the MCG’s case.

It’s the first time an Australian ground will be punished under the current grading system, updated in 2023.

‘FLY TO THE MOON’: AUSSIE GREAT’S BRUTAL MESSAGE FOR GREEN

Cricketing great Kim Hughes has voiced his disappointment towards Australia and England after their two-day Boxing Day Test, with a particularly pointed message for under-fire all-rounder Cameron Green.

Speaking with veteran cricket journalist Robert Craddock, the 70-Test batter implored both sides to show more application at the crease in conditions more favourable for bowlers, after 36 wickets fell in just 142 overs between the two sides on a sub-par MCG pitch last week.

“Sheepers creepers, I know the wicket was tough but there was some ordinary batting. You only have to look at the way Cameron Green was batting. He was running down the wicket. You might as well fly to the moon,” Hughes said.

“The English players hardly know what a back foot looks like. Even when they play the pull shot they have their back foot on the crease.

“Batting on tough decks is a test of you physically and mentally. The bowling in this Test was good. I know on a wicket like that you have to be positive but you still have to have a good defence and many weren’t.”

Green, 26, is now one of multiple Australian batters sweating on their selection ahead of the series finale in Sydney, having registered just one half-century in his last 17 Test innings.

‘WHY?’: SEASONED CURATOR TAKES AIM AT UNDER-FIRE MCG CURATOR

A veteran curator has taken aim at MCG head curator Matt Page after the two-day fourth Ashes Test, while England champion Joe Root has backed the likes of coach Brendon McCullum and managing director Rob Key to keep their jobs beyond this tour.

Tony Hemming has prepared pitches for more than four decades during stints with the MCC, the ICC as well as at The Oval, Optus Stadium, in Pakistan and now in Bangladesh.

Hemming does not want Page to lose his job over the Boxing Day blunder, but believes he must be held accountable for ‘experimenting’ with the surface for the marquee Test on the Australian calendar.

“I saw his press conference before the game where he talked it up as a seaming wicket and mentioned a ‘recipe’. But if the recipe for the previous Indian Test was successful, why increase the grass cover? I would never take that risk,” Hemming told Code Sports from Bangladesh.

“With all the bells and whistles available, it’s the curator’s responsibility to read the weather and say, ‘I need a greenhouse, I need heating — this is what I need to do to produce the pitch I want.

“I’ve prepared 20 Test wickets in my career, and for me it’s the pinnacle. If I were in that position, I would be doing everything possible to get it absolutely right — not experimenting at the most important game of the season.”

England were the beneficiaries of the extra grass left on the pitch as Ben Stokes won the toss and chose to bowl, and then his bowlers and batters played the conditions better on day two to get their first win in Australia since 2011.

In the lead-up to Boxing Day, there had been several calls for heads to roll within the England hierarchy.

Stokes, McCullum and Key have all publicly stated they intend to stay in their roles beyond the Ashes, and Root said that the playing group is well and truly behind them.

“In terms of the playing group, we’re absolutely committed to the management,” he said.

“Yes, we can be better and there are certain areas that we’ll continue to keep working at, but that management work extremely hard.

“They might do things in a slightly different way, but I think we’ve made great strides as a group and a big reason for it is because of the guys we have behind us.”

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – DECEMBER 27: Ben Stokes of England and Joe Root of England share a laughduring day two of the Fourth Test in the 2025/26 Ashes Series between Australia and England at Melbourne Cricket Ground on December 27, 2025 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

England have been blasted on this tour for their drinking and lack of training during a holiday in Noosa in between the Brisbane and Adelaide, and for their lack of preparation, having played no competitive tour game against local opposition.

Root was captain when England came to Australia four years ago and lost 4-0, and England’s all-time leading run scorer suggested that regardless of perspectives on the off field issues, it cannot be denied that the likes of Zak Crawley, and even the dropped Ollie Pope, are better players now than when they first toured Australia.

“You look at the group of players we’ve got and you look at the guys that were involved in the team when I was captain, four years ago, and you look at their records individually, and every single one of them has improved as a player,” Root said.

“This team has improved. I think it would be silly for the amount of hard work and things that have been done…”

SCG UNDER PRESSURE AS GREAT TIPS PITCH TWEAK

SCG curator Adam Lewis “would be nervous” heading into the fifth and final Ashes Test, according to Travis Head, with Cricket Australia calling for a high-quality wicket in Sydney.

Two-day Tests in both Perth and Melbourne have damaged the governing body’s bottom line while frustrating fans keen to enjoy more cricket, especially when it came to the disappointing Boxing Day Test.

On Sunday MCG head curator Matt Page said he was in a “state of shock” with how the pitch behaved.

The SCG pitch will therefore be closely tracked especially after last year’s Australia-India clash which ended in just over two days.

Fox Cricket’s Mark Waugh declared he had never seen such a green wicket in Sydney and avoiding a repeat will be on the minds of all involved.

Ground staff with head curator Adam Lewis on left during the 4th Ashes Test match between Australia and England at the SCG, January 2022. Photo by Phil HillyardSource: Supplied

“I think people in Sydney will be knowing full well the spotlight will be on them in a day or two, and I’m really hoping the SCG wicket performs well for us,” CA boss Todd Greenberg said.

“It’d be a good way to finish at the SCG with a really great Test match to finish what’s been an amazing series.

“I know there’s been some short Tests, but it’s been an incredible series, and it’ll be remembered for a long period of time for a variety of reasons. But I’m hopeful and confident Sydney will give us a good wicket.”

The SCG surface was also heavily criticised during the AFL season with turf re-laid after an April concert and difficult weather creating to poor conditions which left players slipping over repeatedly.

Weather will also be a concern in Sydney, as always, with the early forecast suggesting some rain is possible on day one.

The Sydney Test has lost 26 days to rain since the 1880s, compared to just nine days lost in Melbourne, eight in Brisbane, two in Adelaide and one in Hobart.

Historic BOM data suggests it rains at some stage on around a third of the days Sydney hosts Tests, though this is during the entire 24-hour period and not necessarily during the cricket.

Helpfully there is no serious rain forecast leading up to the start of the Test on January 4, though both Sheffield Shield matches this season at the SCG ended inside three days.

Rain falls on the ground with covers over the pitch during a rain delay on day three of the third cricket Test match between Australia and South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in Sydney on January 6, 2023. (Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFP)Source: AFP

“I think after the last couple of days, he (the curator) would probably be a touch nervous up there,” Aussie opener Travis Head said.

“Everyone’s under pressure. It’s international cricket on a huge platform. Everyone wants to get it right, so there’s no doubt they’ll be doing everything they possibly can to make it a really good wicket to finish a great series.

“We can only go by the Shield games they’ve (hosted). The news was it was pretty good, and then got a couple of cracks. We saw cracks on it last year with grass.”

Six of the last 11 Tests at the SCG were drawn.

“I don’t think we’ll see 10 millimetres of grass in Sydney,” Fox Cricket’s Brett Lee said.

“I think Sydney will be a beautiful batting surface like what we’ve seen in recent times.

“I’m expecting a full five days of cricket up in Sydney. (Boxing Day) made T20 cricket look slow. I don’t think we’ll see that in Sydney. I think it’s going to be that traditional Test wicket, and we’ll go into at least the fourth or fifth day.”