Inside the 21-minute grilling of the MCG curator and his boss |
It’s never a good sign when the curator of a cricket pitch fronts a press conference, beamed live on national television, at 9.01am on what should have been day three of the Boxing Day Test.
When MCG curator Matt Page and MCC chief executive Stuart Fox emerged from gate two of the empty, 100,000-seat coliseum on Sunday morning in Melbourne, their slow walk towards dozens of journalists, cameras and photographers said it all.
With expressions more befitting a funeral, Page and Fox took deep breaths and prepared to own the situation.
It felt more like a scene from Australian politics than cricket, reminiscent of Anthony Albanese striding into the prime minister’s courtyard in Canberra to tackle a major issue with members of the fourth estate wanting answers.
Instead, this press conference, announced by Cricket Australia 68 minutes after the final delivery of England’s victory in the fourth Ashes Test, was convened to discuss a grassy pitch under fire.
A two-day Test, the first at the MCG in 94 years, is a big deal.
Melbourne Cricket Club chief executive Stuart Fox and head curator Matthew Page front the media at the MCG on what should have been day three of the Test.Credit: Wayne Taylor
“Thanks for coming down,” Fox began, with Page to his left, wearing an MCC polo shirt tucked into long trousers – a far cry from the navy blue shorts he would have expected to be wearing while bringing out the heavy........