The Cricket Australia will reportedly suffer a huge financial loss of INR 60 crore after the fourth Test of the ongoing Ashes 2025-26 ended in just two
days. The Boxing Day Test, played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, is a big-ticket event Down Under, and with the game yielding a result in only two out of the originally scheduled five days, the board will have to bear the heavy monetary setback.
Australia batted first in the match at the 'G', and not only got bundled out on the opening day itself, but they also manage to pick all the ten English wickets, meaning the two innings ended on the Day 1. The result on the second day became inevitable after the Aussies set the Englishmen a target of only 175 runs in the fourth innings. CA's chief executive officer has said that if Tests end within two days, it is a pretty dry state for the business of the sport.
“A simple phrase I’d use is – short Tests are bad for business. I can’t be much more blunt than that. Historically we have taken a hands-off approach in all of our wicket preparation... but it’s hard not to get more involved when you see the impact on the sport, particularly commercially,” Greenberg told via SEN Radio.
Finances aren't great: Steven Smith
Meanwhile, Australia skipper Steven Smith also reiterated the emotion that despite more than one lakh eighty thousand people turning up for the Boxing Day encounter, the third day was also a sell-out, but eventually it wasn't meant to be as the match came to a close, with the Ben Stokes-led side winning their first match of the tour.
“The finances aren’t great, and I think it was a sell-out tomorrow. We saw 36 wickets in two days and that indicates it was a pretty tricky wicket. It probably offered a little too much. A lot of the Tests have been played in fast-forward and this one was over in two day, not ideal. It would be good if it was a bit longer, and we were able to entertain the fans some more, but it wasn’t to be,” Smith said after the match.
The fifth and final match of the series will now be played at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground, January 4 onwards. This will also be the New Year's Test and is once again expected to boast a large amount of attraction from fans at the venue. As a result, the boards and other stakeholders will be hoping for the game to last a little longer and not have a prematurish end.
