Ashes Series: England's thrilling two-day win over Australia in the fourth Ashes Test has sparked intense debate about the Melbourne Cricket Ground's pitch, with former Three Lions captain Michael Vaughan criticising the track, saying the quality of cricket was subpar.

"This pitch is a joke .. This is selling the game short .. The players / Broadcasters and more importantly the fans .. 26 wickets in 98 overs," Vaughan wrote on X.

"A win is a win, and England should celebrate, but NO Test cricket fans should be celebrating what we have seen for 2 days .. #Ashes," wrote Vaughan on his "˜X' account on Saturday.

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The 10mm of grass left on the pitch yielded 36 wickets falling in six sessions at the MCG, as England shattered a 14-year drought for a Test match success in Australia with a four-wicket win. England bundled out Australia for 132 in their second innings to set a chase of 175 to win, which they completed after losing six wickets.

Meanwhile, England's fast bowling great Stuart Broad said the victory in Melbourne came too late to influence the result in the Ashes. Broad added that the four-wicket win would reverberate more with travelling fans and the players themselves than with England's supporters back home.

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"I think it (the reaction) will be slightly mixed. I look over to the English fans now, and they'll have that emotion of being here and seeing England win away, singing the songs, having a few drinks with their friends. I think it will be positive in Australia and for the English fans who travelled here," Broad said on SEN Radio.

"(But) I'm sure there would be a sense back home that it's too little, too late in a way, in the fact that the Ashes have gone in Adelaide last week. And if Australia weren't 3-nil up, would Pat Cummins have played? Would Australia have played a stronger side?" he added.

"But ultimately, these players will be able to say that they have won a Test match in Australia, and they have had a brutal time of it. It's such a strange Test series to have two Test matches that go for two days, it's incredible," the former England pacer said.

Australia hold a 3-1 lead in the 2025/26 Ashes series, with the match now moving to Sydney for the traditional New Year's Test starting at the Sydney Cricket Ground on January 4.

(With IANS Inputs)


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