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Stunning ‘very good’ verdict as two-day Test pitch gets top rating after 30-wicket carnage Thirty wickets. Just 125 overs. A wicket every 25 balls and a Test match finished inside two days. Yet the Mackay pitch that produced the extraordinary scenes is reportedly set to receive the highest possible grading. Watch Sri Lanka vs India Test Series Live & On-Demand on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. Match referee Sir Richie Richardson is set to grade the Great Barrier Reef Arena surface used for the second Test between Australia and Bangladesh as “very good”, according to 7Cricket Chief Cricket Reporter Tom Morris. The ICC will still need to tick off the assessment before the grading is formalised. “Very good” is the highest of four possible pitch gradings and is defined as providing “good carry, limited seam movement, and consistent bounce early in the match, allowing for a balanced contest between batters and bowlers”. And despite Australia wrapping up the Test inside two days, Josh Hazlewood believes the surface itself wasn’t necessarily responsible for the rapid finish. “Yeah, the wicket was pretty good. I don’t necessarily think it should have been a two-day game,” Hazlewood told Fox Cricket’s Adam Gilchrist post-match. “There was enough there for it. It probably quickened up today. “There was a little bit of seam movement day one, which you expect in most Test matches, but once the shine went off the ball it didn’t go a great deal - it felt from a bowler’s point of view. “It felt better than that.” Hazlewood’s assessment came despite 30 wickets falling across just 125 overs, with the Australian quick himself taking only one wicket across Bangladesh’s two innings. Instead, Mitchell Starc was the chief destroyer, producing a remarkable 10-wicket match haul after taking 6-12 in the first innings and 4-39 in the second. Bangladesh were bundled out for just 64 before managing only 95 in their second innings, with captain Najmul Hossain Shanto’s 31 the highest individual score across the visitors’ two innings. Australia weren’t immune from the difficult batting conditions either. The hosts were dismissed for 210 in their only innings, with Cameron Green’s 67, Steve Smith’s 42 and Nathan Lyon’s unbeaten 32 the only major contributions. Green was the only player from either side to reach 50 across the entire Test. Despite the remarkable frequency of wickets and the match failing to reach a third day, the surface is now on track to receive the highest possible grading. It comes less than a year after another two-day Test on Australian soil also received a “very good” pitch rating. The opening Ashes Test at Perth Stadium lasted just two days after 32 wickets fell, including 19 on a chaotic opening day. Travis Head’s extraordinary 123 in Australia’s second innings proved the difference, with his stunning knock helping guide the hosts to victory after he was promoted to the top of the order. Despite the rapid finish, the Perth Stadium surface was subsequently handed the highest possible grading. “The match referee’s ‘very good’ rating justifies our belief Perth Stadium produced a pitch that provided a fair balance between bat and ball,” Cricket Australia chief of cricket James Allsopp said at the time. Now Mackay appears set to receive the same assessment after another Australian Test that didn’t make it beyond day two.