Imagine if there were no Boxing Day Test at the MCG.

It may seem ludicrous, but that could have been the stunning result had last year's loss of three demerit points for a "poor" pitch carried over for another year.

The International Cricket Council gave the venue a whack after the bore-fest against England, making it the first in Australia to be tarnished by a miserable poor grading. But it was essentially done with a feather duster, for a revised system was to be released days later, meaning all venues around the world began afresh.

The get-out-of-jail card has now been played and the home of cricket faces another poor rating this year from match referee Andy Pycroft because of its lifeless condition.

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Under ICC rules over a rolling five-year period, it takes the loss of five demerit points for a venue to be suspended from international cricket for a year. This can be accumulated through a below average grading, garnering one demerit point, a poor grading leading to three demerit points, while five demerit points would only be given should a pitch be deemed unfit.

The drop-in deck used for this Test will not be deemed unfit, but poor and below average are certainly in the frame. If last year's poor result had carried over, and there was more trouble this year, then next summer's Boxing Day clash against New Zealand would be off – regardless of whether Cricket Australia and the Melbourne Cricket Club had struck a new deal.

As it stands, there may need to be change, perhaps considerable change, next summer. Otherwise, the Boxing Day Test will head interstate.

That there were chants of "boring" from an impatient crowd just after lunch on Thursday said it all.

A poor pitch is rated as: "one that does not allow an even contest between bat and ball, either by favouring the batters too much, and not giving the bowlers (seam and spin) from either team sufficient opportunity to take wickets, or by favouring the bowlers too much (seam or spin), and not giving the batters from either team the opportunity to make runs."

It's fair to say, heading into day three, that while this Test is still alive, this pitch has not provided the desired result between bat and ball nor given the bowlers sufficient opportunity to take wickets.

By tea on Thursday, through almost seven days of Test cricket, including last summer, only 28 wickets had fallen, while more than 1400 runs had been thumped. That's hardly helpful to cricket.

Justin Langer all but put the venue on notice in his pre-match press conference, declaring an entertaining pitch was required not only for the health of this match but Test cricket in general. Fast bowler Mitchell Starc hankered for a deck with bounce where bodies could be hit. That there were chants of "boring" from an impatient crowd just after lunch on Thursday said it all.

The frustration here has been exacerbated because of the results-driven pitches of Adelaide and Perth where bowlers, fast and spin, were given encouragement, meaning batsmen had to work hard for their runs but the opportunity to score freely was there.

It is one of the great mysteries why the new Perth Stadium was given only an average rating by match referee Ranjan Madugalle, although this grading escapes demerit points. But if that was only average, on a deck where Virat Kohli delivered an exhilarating century, there were five other half-centuries and a spinner and fast bowler each took five-wicket bags, then the MCG appears in trouble.

MCG curator Matt Page has provided greater moisture this year and added 50mm of sand to the base of the pitch trays, which sit above a concrete base in a bid to deliver more life. While it's been 20 years since the drop-in pitches were installed, they have been replaced over time.

More work will continue to be done with better technology in a bid to have the pitches more like Perth within two or three years. But will that be enough time to save the Test?

The front page news on Thursday was that department stores are set to be crunched by one of the worst holiday shopping periods since the global financial crisis.

Well, shopkeepers may get an unexpected bounce next year for there could be many of the 70,000 who were at the MCG on Wednesday, and millions watching at home, who opt to spend more time with credit card in hand rather than putting up with a snoozefest in what should be cricket's showpiece event.

Jon Pierik is a sports writer with The Age, focusing primarily on AFL football, cricket and basketball. He has won awards for his cricket and basketball writing.

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