The governing body for cricket in Australia has admitted it has lost A$15 million (US$10.1 million) from two of the Ashes series tests finishing in just two days.
Cricket Australia (CA) Chief Executive Todd Greenberg said the financial shortfall from the fourth test between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) ending early was $10 million, according to an article on CA’s website cricket.com.au.
He said the governing body lost about half that amount when the Perth test in November ended in two days, well inside the maximum of five days allowed for test match cricket.
“A simple phrase I’d use is – short tests are bad for business. I can’t be much more blunt than that,” Greenberg was quoted in a Guardian Australian article as saying on telling SEN Radio.
Whether the state of the MCG wicket contributed to the early end was a talking point, with curator Matt Page admitting he left more grass on the drop-in surface on the expectation of hot weather during what is the biggest cricket test of 2025.
“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 said.
A total of 93,442 people, the MCG’s biggest ever cricket crowd, passed through the turnstiles on day one on Boxing Day, while 92,045 attended on the second day, compared with the ground’s capacity of just over 100,000.
Although England bounced back to win the test, Australia holds an unassailable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five test series in which the two countries continue a rivalry dating back to 1877.
Greenberg said CA would undertake an end-of-season review of the management of test match wickets as officials try to balance the needs of batters and bowlers.
"With the way batters are batting, and the way the game is evolving, are the preparation of our wickets in lockstep with that?" Greenberg said.
"If they're not, how do we make sure that they are so that we can try to balance the commercial imperatives versus the performance?"
CA boosted its surplus from continuing operations by 24% to A$109.605 million (US$71.8 million) in the year ended 30 June 2025 on revenue, which rose 12% to $455.552 million, according to the annual report.
This largely driven by the delivery of a successful season, including the five-test series against India, which Australia won 3-1 in front of a record two million fans.
The Boxing Day match recorded the highest ever total television and streaming audience for a cricket test on Seven and 7plus Sport, according to the Seven West Media (ASX: SWM).
The average national total television audience of 1.52 million was up 16% on last year’s Boxing Day Test.
