Tuesday 26 December 2017 10:58, UK
James Anderson has been critical of the pitch at the MCG, insisting England did all they could to provide entertainment for the bumper Boxing Day crowd on day one of the fourth Ashes Test.
SCORECARD | ASHES 2017/18 HOMEPAGE
Australia reached stumps on 244-3 after an attritional day of Test cricket and while they hold a slender advantage, their run rate meant they did not get away from the tourists.
And Anderson, who dismissed David Warner (103) to move into joint fifth with Windies seamer Courtney Walsh on the list of all-time Test wicket-takers with his 519th scalp, feels the England bowlers were let down by the pitch.
"You'd think that the 90,000 people that turned up today don't want to see 244-3," he told reporters. "People want to see entertaining cricket, especially in an iconic game like the Boxing Day Test match at the MCG. People want to see exciting cricket.
"We did our best. We didn't bowl great in the first session so we didn't add to the excitement, unless you are a David Warner fan. But second session we did all we could on that pitch. I know it wasn't exciting to watch, it wasn't exciting to play in to be honest.
"It's that attritional style of cricket but there's not a lot we can do about from here. That's the pitch we've got for the next five days and we've got to put up with it."
Meanwhile, David Warner says in-form Steve Smith is a freakish talent after the Australia captain finished unbeaten after day one in Melbourne.
Smith, who so far in this series has amassed 491 runs at a stunning average of 163.66 from five innings, was well on the way to posting his fourth consecutive century after finishing 65no in Australia's 244-3.
The 28-year-old hasn't been dismissed in a Melbourne Test match since Boxing Day 2014 and was on track to repeat the feat on a bat-friendly MCG pitch. In the last three showpiece Boxing Day Tests, Smith has scored 192 against India, 134 not out against the West Indies and an unbeaten 165 last year against Pakistan.
"I think we all wish we were half the batter Steve Smith is at the moment because he's seeing them like watermelons, but he makes the game look so easy," said team vice-captain Warner, who scored his 21st Test century with 103.
"He's just a freak. I don't know how he does what he does. He's very mentally strong, we always talk about the way that he prepares. He likes batting time in the nets then out in the game he just seems to be hitting every ball out of the middle.
"England said that they had come up with a game plan to get him out and obviously it hasn't worked so far in this game. He's got a unique technique that you wouldn't coach any other kid."
England's all-time leading Test wicket-taker Anderson, who has had a running battle with Smith during the Ashes series, said it was up to the bowlers to figure a way to get him out.
"I won't say I'm sick of the sight of him, I would like to get him out but every now and then you come up against a player who's in the form of his life," Anderson said.
"He's the leading runscorer in Test cricket this year and obviously he's in a hot streak. As a bowler it can be tough coming up against someone like that, but it's our job to try and figure on ways of getting him out.
"When someone's in that kind of form you just got to hope that he makes a mistake or just hope you bowl a ball that's good enough to get rid of him."
