The International Cricket Council (ICC) has released its pitch ratings for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with the Perth Stadium, Adelaide Oval, Gabba and the MCG pitches all receiving the highest “very good” rating and the SCG given the second top category “satisfactory”.
The ratings come as the Kangaroos, last week, the Kangaroos secured a 3-1 victory in the five-match series to reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade.
Losing the first match in Perth, the hosts came back strong to win the second, fourth and fifth Test, whereas the third match was drawn.
With the series win, Australia also made it to the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord’s in June.
The pitch ratings system, revamped in 2023 to reduce the number of ratings from six to four —very good, satisfactory, unsatisfactory and unfit — features demerit points for venues if they receive unsatisfactory or unfit ratings.
“We are delighted by the quality of pitches produced for the NRMA Insurance Border-Gavaskar Trophy series and grateful for all the hard work of the curators and venues across the country,” said CA Head of Cricket Operations and Scheduling Peter Roach.
“We encourage pitches that bring out the unique characteristics of that venue and this has long been a feature of Australian cricket. We strongly believe that this is one of the reasons that Test cricket is so popular in Australia.
“We don’t look to prepare wickets that favour the home side or suit our situation in a series. What we seek is a good contest between bat and ball and pitches that are likely to produce a result.
“Weather obviously plays a significant part in preparation and we know that even our most skilled curators are challenged at times by adverse weather,” he added.
Noting that the SCG has been striving to bring out their unique characteristics of early pace and bounce before the pitch wears and spins, Roach remarked that this year was a step in the right direction to achieving this which provided an exciting finish to the Border Gavaskar Trophy series and bodes well for the Ashes summer in 2025-26.
“The series also emphasised the benefits of playing first-class cricket at major venues. It allows our curators to become more familiar with the different challenges that go into preparing wickets in different weather conditions, and also allows players to enter the Test team familiar with the conditions they will confront,” he concluded.
