The International Cricket Council (ICC) has ruled that the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) pitch used for the fourth Ashes Test on Boxing Day was “unsatisfactory” and “too much in favour of the bowlers”.

The Test lasted only two days as England secured their first win on Australian soil since 2011, with no batter from either team reaching an individual score of 50 for the first time in a Test match in Australia since 1932.

A major factor in this was the pitch, on which the grass was cropped to 10mm in length, 3mm longer than for Australia’s Boxing Day Test against India last year. An ICC statement on Monday confirmed that the pitch fell below standard — “unsatisfactory” is the ICC’s second lowest ranking for a pitch — and gave the MCG venue a demerit point.

“The MCG pitch was too much in favour of the bowlers,” said match referee Jeff Crowe. “With 20 wickets falling on the first day, 16 on the second day and no batter even reaching a half-century, the pitch was ‘Unsatisfactory’ as per the guidelines and the venue gets one demerit point.”

If a venue receives six demerit points across a five-year period it is then suspended from hosting international cricket for 12 months. This is the first time a pitch in Australia has been deemed substandard since the ICC overhauled its grading system two years ago.

Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) groundsman Matt Page explained to media on Sunday that the decision to cut the grass to 10mm was made due to the anticipated “hot weather at the back end of the game”. The length of the grass made the ball move around more than it would on an average wicket, but shorter grass with hotter weather could have dried the pitch out and favoured the batters instead.

Early estimates from Cricket Australia are that the early Test finish in Melbourne will cost it around A$10m (US$6.7m) in lost revenue, as day three was due to have a sell-out crowd.

“We’re disappointed and we’ll move on — we’ll respond quickly,” MCC CEO Stuart Fox said in the same press conference as Page. “We didn’t want this to happen. It’s challenging times for us.

“Quite obviously … this pitch has clearly favoured the bowlers and hasn’t given the batters a good opportunity to get set.”

England bowled Australia out twice in 79.5 overs on their way to victory, the shortest the hosts have lasted in a Test match since Sir Don Bradman’s debut in 1929, with 36 wickets falling inside six sessions of the game. The visitors won the match before the close on day two.

The final Test of the series will take place in Sydney, beginning on January 4, with Australia 3-1 up and having retained the Ashes.