It was the worst pitch I've ever seen in Sydney - Michael Clarke

The Border Gavaskar Trophy had its conclusion with Australia winning the trophy after a decade of dominance from India comfortably with a 3-1 series score, The last Test was the trophy decider and Australia won that test, SCG was the host in this test match this right from the beginning there was a discussion regarding how poor the Pitch was and with the Grass on and it certainly looked different from the usual Sydney Pitch.

There was a press release from the Australia Cricket Board which had the Ranking of the Pitches where the surface of the first four tests surface received the ”Very Good rating”, and Sydney received the “satisfactory” Rating which was caught up by many experts and they had their say on this Sydney Wicket.

Micheal Clarke was one of the experts and shared his honest opinion about the Wicket, He said “It was the worst pitch I’ve ever seen in Sydney, Adding this is not the traditional wicket that we have seen in Sydney. 

Along with Micheal Clarke, Sunil Gavaskar added that this pitch has too much grass which gives too much for the bowlers, and “Cows could have gone and Grazed on it”, adding this is not the Ideal Surface for the Test match. 

When the Pitch Curator was asked about this, He said we curate the surface only to bring out the balanced and competitive sport between the two teams, We never curate the Surface that brings advantage to the home team or the surface Away team is expecting it to be.

According to the ICC's pitch ratings, the recent wicket to receive a "satisfactory" rating was the one at the SCG, which was rated as such after being used for a match. In contrast, the most recent "unsatisfactory" rating was given to the De Beers Diamond Oval in Kimberley, which was deemed "unfit" after the second ODI between South Africa and Sri Lanka Women on April 13, 2024.

The final Test match, which proved to be the trophy decider, was hosted at the SCG. From the outset, there was considerable discussion surrounding the state of the pitch. The surface, with its unusual grass cover, raised eyebrows and appeared quite different from the typically dry Sydney pitch. Following the match, the ICC's pitch rating for the SCG was only deemed "Satisfactory," highlighting concerns over its quality for Test cricket. While the result was historic, the pitch at SCG became a talking point for its role in the series' outcome.