Mackay pitch set for top rating despite two-day Test finish

The pitch at the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay that produced 30 wickets in 125 overs and a two-day finish in Bangladesh’s second Test against Australia is set to receive the highest possible grading, according to 7Cricket chief cricket reporter Tom Morris.

“Match referee for the Mackay Test Sir Richie Richardson is set to grade the pitch ‘very good’…The highest possible grading,” Morris wrote on X on Monday.

“The ICC will need to tick it off before the grading is formalized,” he added.

"Very good" is the top of four pitch gradings, defined as offering good carry, limited seam movement and consistent bounce early in the match to balance bat and ball.

Mitchell Starc took 10 wickets in the match, including 6-12 in the first innings, where he picked up his first five wickets in just 22 balls.

The tourists were bundled out for 64 and 95 respectively in both innings and lost the Test by an innings and 51 runs.

Bangladesh’s Shoriful Islam also took 7-48 in Australia’s only innings.

The opening day yielded 18 wickets in total – 10 Bangladesh’s and eight Australia’s, and 12 fell on the second as the match ended inside two days.

After the match, Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto had called out how a similar 18-wicket day on a pitch in the sub-continent would have caused great uproar.

“Whenever we normally play in the subcontinent, if 18-19 wickets fall in a day, there’s a lot of talk, everyone comments on it.

“The pitch was obviously challenging — you can tell just from the fact that 18 wickets fell… When we play in the subcontinent, I hope we don’t forget these same things,” Shanto said.