The Ashes: Australian coach Andrew McDonald goes into bat for MCG curator Matt Page as furore continues

Australian coach Andrew McDonald has launched a passionate defence of MCG curator Matt Page as the furore over the pitch for the two-day Boxing Day Test continues.

Page said he was in a “state of shock” watching 20 wickets tumble on the opening day. He fronted a throng of media on Sunday, addressing the under-fire wicket.

At his own press conference on Monday morning, which was meant to be the fourth day of the match, McDonald said the Australian camp was “proud” of how Page had transformed the MCG in the wake of its most recent demerit point after a draw with England in 2017.

“A lot’s been spoken about the pitch, and just off the top, I want to talk about the evolution of that and the job that Matt Page has actually done in getting it from where it was to where it is now,” he said.

“It’s always a tricky balance, a fine balance and he does an outstanding job. The perspective I always use is that we have bad Test matches as well, we had a bad Test match first Test match last summer, this Test we weren’t at our best, and sometimes these things can happen.

“But we support him in what he has done, and we’re really proud of the evolution of the MCG. So hopefully people can have some context around where he’s been on the journey, and people can support him for the next challenge that he faces.”

McDonald brushed aside concerns that the dicey wicket, on which 36 wickets fell in less than six sessions, would cloud the judgement of selectors on players who are under pressure.

“We’ve played on difficult pitches before, and we’ve been able to find a way through,” he said.

“We believe we’re a better batting group than that, but what we did there says otherwise, and the challenge is to get that lined up for Sydney.

“We never live in that space of a one-off Test match; we always look at sample sizes over a period of time.

“There have been batters that are underperforming depending on what the surface is.

“If we were to make a move, would it be based on the last Test match? Generally, it’s not and of that team we like to stick and trust what we are setting out to achieve long in advance and it’s not necessarily the performance before.”