Have you ever seen a pitch that looked like the one played on in the third One Day Cricket International between India and Australia in Delhi? Even the commentators remarked how amazing it looked, black and torn up around the edges with a perfect strip down the middle.
It appeared that anywhere the players stepped, the pitch disintegrated.
India’s spinners bowled 31 overs in Australia’s innings and even the handy part-timer Raina was spinning it square while their very talented pace attack didn’t take a wicket and didn’t look genuinely threatening throughout.
At the innings break there was talk about opening the bowling with Hauritz – not a common ploy for an Australian ODI team, to say the least – only for Mitchell Johnson to come out and get peppered for twelve runs in his first over.
Johnson, who reached 150 km/h, was banging the ball in hard, particularly in his second spell.
One perfect example of the pitch’s behaviour came when Johnson bowled what would have been a head high bouncer on any other pitch. Yuvraj had to readjust but it slowed down enough for him to clip the ball off his hip out to square leg.
Allow me to be stereotypical for just one moment. Indian players are excellent off the front foot, particularly wristy and the best players of spin in the world.
This track was tailor-made to suit the stereotypical Indian batsman.
It allowed them to immediately get on the front even before the bowler had bowled knowing that even when short of a length, the ball wouldn’t rise a great deal.
Watching the highlights of Yuvraj’s 50, one noted that every boundary was played well out of his crease and that he was always moving forwards, the opposite of Australian batsmen who, since the Don, have generally moved back and across.
How can we expect players to adjust to such a change in conditions? We aren’t talking about a few cracks here and there. For an Australian viewer, the Delhi pitch was that different it could have come from a different planet.
Surely it is time the ICC stepped in and evened out the playing field for all nations.
Why, for example, do we play Tests in Australia with a Kookaburra ball, in England with a Duke and in India with an SG? Why does the ICC not regulate exactly these kinds of issues?
The ICC, as guardians of the game, must step in and look to remove some of these variables. Yes, pitches will and should remain different, but there should be no two pitches as contrasting as Delhi and Perth.
With modern methods and technology, curators can produce pitches to suit. They won’t get it right every time as they still rely on the weather but we should expect more.
Cricket must move with the times.
The FFA in Australia introduced new laws this season, whereby opposing captains can inspect pitches before the match to ensure they are up to standard.
It is exactly this forward thinking that is lacking amongst cricket administrators, whose only worry it is to fit more cricket into an already bulging schedule to keep the cash registers ringing.
While the Delhi track wasn’t unsafe, it was unfair.
I can recall a delivery to Greg Blewett during a Test in the Caribbean. Blewett was already under pressure to retain his place after some ordinary performances; only to receive a half-tracker that struck him on the pad, plumb in front.
Fortunately it didn’t end Blewett’s career, but surely in the current climate it’s only a matter of time before these circumstances culminate in a player being dropped and losing his career?
There must be more stringent guidelines for what players and fans can expect from a game of international cricket. It was as embarrassing to watch Mitchell Johnson try to come to grips with the Duke ball in the Ashes series as it was to see Australia struggle today on a spinners paradise.
It’s not a true measure of the players when the conditions have pre-determined the result.
While credit must be given to India for another outstanding performance, I can’t help but feel there should be an asterisk next to this scorecard.
Dave1
Guest
The cb win was the biggest one day win since maybe the natwest trophy win in England in 2002 which was massive. Also in 1985, India won the Benson & Hedges World Championship of Cricket.
Dave1
Guest
I think the problem with pitches is that they are all becoming the same. Therefore, I disagree with the premises that there is a problem with pitch irregularities. In fact I think they are not as irregular as they used to be therefore I thinks it’s a nonexistent situation. Therefore I cant blame the ICC for it. with
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Dave 1..You posited the evening of pitches and Davido replied ,I think,in a sweeping manner,without refernce to pitches..Not sure but in general I belive he was alluding to the ICC's overall lack of initiative. I dont really blame the ICC because it can only be as powerful as it is allowed to be.
Dave1
Guest
but hes talking about pitches ..............he says something ....not sure what....... is the icc's fault
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Dave1..Davido is right in that the ICC is controlled by the BCCI...The ICC is powerless. It can only be relevant if all Boards cede some of their powers and make the ICC truly meaningful. As it stands India wins on the show of hands everytime. The ICC does not do anything unless India agrees. Take the WADA episode. India objected so it is on the back burner. Take the Test Championship..same story...The ICC is not doing anything wrong,Dave...it is simply not doing Anything.
Dave1
Guest
Does the weather in Kolkata allow them to play at Eden Gardens at the times Australia has toured there?
Dave1
Guest
davido What do you want the ICC to do? Freud says the ICC should control pitches because they are not the same everywhere. However this in not right pitches are becoming more and more alike all over the world what exactly is the ICC doing wrong? vinay Why is davido right?
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Yes,I too would pay to see a cameo from mark Waugh..and before him Greg Chappell
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Freud..there is too much scrutiny now and in any event doctoring a pitch can backfire if you lose the toss. So there is no point. The point you make about a successful Indian Team is valid and the public will not tolerate losers. India is difficult to beat at home and seem to have good bench strength for the forseeable future. But India have to start winning the big tournaments. Their success in the CB series was the first major one since the Twenty20 World Cup in SAF and before that the 1983 World Cup. The BCCI has been trading on the credibility of Tendulkar,Dravid and Laxman for over a decade and unless they find new "bankable" heroes and players of genuine pedigree the honeymoon will be shortlived. Twenty20 is not a breeding ground for players of calibre. Lots of politics and CA is not entirely blameless... the alacrity with which it acquiesces to the BCCI is scandalous.
Freud of Football
Roar Guru
The ICC is becaming a sham if it wasn't already, just a front for a gents club. Cricket is a sport steeped in history and the old-school powerhouses like the MCC now having to mix it with the new-money from India, one senses the game is on a collision course and the ICC don't seem capable of stopping it. However I find it intereting that you too noted some of the hobnobbing and have mentioned some of the politic wranglings in the background of Indian cricket. I obviously can't say a lot as most of my information has been acquired via reading and a few people I know who have played a bit of domestic cricket in India but I found it interesting that you stated on a recent thread that pitches might have been doctored in India 10 years ago but not any more? Surely with the stakes so much higher since the influx of IPL cash there is an even greater emphasis on the Indian team and their performances? As such pitches that suit would be ven more important as a successful Indian team will bring in more $ than one that isn't. Unfortunately Norm O'Neill was a bit before my time, my late uncle watched him when he made his first ton against SA and I remember him telling me as a kid that he was one of the best he'd seen. I must confess that Mark Waugh was my favourite player, I have never seen someone play the game with such ease but still, punching a ball on the rise through cover while almost standing on the stumps, that is what I would pay to see anyday of the week.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Unfortunately,you may be right,Davido
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Freud...Delhi is certainly the capital of india but the major cricket "centres" are Mumbai,Bangalore,Chennai and Mohali( the fourth ODI last Night) The Delhi Cricket Association has for far too long been enmeshed in petty politics and it is only in the last two years they have started to overhaul the Feroz Shah Kotla Ground. Till a few years ago it resembled the old Mughal ruins that dot the landscape around Delhi. The best playing surfaces in India remain Mohali and the Eden Gardens. The Eden Gardens with a capacity of 110000 has been consistently denied hosting Australia since the 2001 Epic Test. Again the egos and selfishness of bureaucrats and politicians. Indian Cricket is prospering in spite of these charades. If I were Cricket Australia I would be affronted playing in a backwater like Guwahati when the Eden Gardens is next door. But Jack Clarke looked pretty comfortable in the company of IS Bindra,last night. Talking of Steve Waugh you may not remember Norm O'Neill but he was brilliant off the back foot.Thunderous straight drives and classic pulls. And a magnificent fielder on the boundary. Flat bullet throws. And the boundaries weren't roped in like todays play school grounds. This series may well be 3 all with one to play. Both teams bat well from 1-5 and then it falls away. The bowling is not consistent from either side. Harbhajan I believe is being shaded by Hauritz,who continues to grow in Stature. He will get better and Freud,lets look at him in a few seasons down the track. He is bowling the straight one and does not need the doosra. He was prepared to flight it to Tendulkar and was not over awed. Good signs
davido
Guest
There are two reasons the ICC dont do anything: 1. they have treated the game as a cash cow for a long time... so why mess with it. Just be quiet and let us make money will you. 2. ICC stands for the Indian Cricket council. Just wait for Sharad Power to take over. You will see some crazy stuff then. The first step will be to make test umpires non-neutral. And it will be downhill (or further downhill) from there. Oh... three things. They are useless.
Freud of Football
Roar Guru
Indeed a good batsman can adapt to any surface and conditions (within reason) and just because you don't rate Yuvraj as a good test player doesn't mean I can't use him as an example, you said yourself on another thread that he plays too much from the crease which certainly wasn't evident on Saturday and not something I have noted a great deal but you may have seen more of him than I. "However the nature of pitches in the major centres and the Academies have pitches of consistent bounce and players are becoming more adept at backfoot play" that statement seems a little counter-intuitive after the pitch in Delhi (surely considered a major centre?) was as uneven as any pitch I've seen in the last decade. Again I don't profess to have endless knowledge on Indian cricket but I've seen a fair bit over the last 5 years or so (more than I used to see) and most pitches still turn, get dusty and lack bounce favouring batsmen and spinners. I too think the MCG and SCG are going away from their tradtional aspects and the WACA over the past few years has been ordinary to say the least which is a real shame, Perth Tests were my favourite as the pitch always gave the bowlers something (even Warne loved the extra bounce) but once a batsmen is set - which takes a little longer than in Adelaide for example - they could flay away with no worries and get a good score pretty quickly. Again, you're right on Ponting and Hussey, Watson isn't "world class" but he is international class and Paine I haven't see enough of on various surfaces to make a fair judgement. P Hughes and Ferguson I think both have the makings to be world class but they'll take time to get there. It is a shame that back foot play in general isn't as common as what it once was, even someone like Hayden, yes he had a great pull shot but he always wanted to get forward and drive. Seeing Steve Waugh stand up and drive off the back foot was a great sight but one that won't be as common in the future. Aus look like they are falling apart again, Ponting was plumb and got lucky so hopefully he goes on and makes it count after some of the recent poor decisions against him.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
You know me better than that,Brett..I would never have a subliminal shot at you...only a full frontal attack. And I was being neither complimentary or derogatary..just making an observation.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Freud..It is tempting to stereotype but also dangerous. There is a reason why Indian players IN INDIA PREFER TO PLAY OF THE FRONT FOOT. wITH THE GENERALLY LOW BOUNCE IN THE PAST THEY HAD TO DO THIS TO NEGATE THE LBWS. However the nature of pitches in the major centres and the Academies have pitches of consistent bounce and players are becoming more adept at backfoot play. Yuvraj is not a good example because I dont rate him as a Test player. The point here is that when India travel overseas and play on SA or OZ pitches the good batsmen like Dravid,Laxman and Tendulkar will play back when they have to. I actually see Australian pitches at SCG and MCG becoming more like Indian pitches. The Gabba and Adelaide are the only ones retaining their traditional characteristics. Even the WACA is not the fiery beast it once was. Have a look at Watson and Paine..predominantly front foot but it is different with Ponting and Hussey. At the momnet these are the only two world class batsmen in the Australian side. A good batsman can play on any surface and adapts his game. Backfoot play generally has suffered because of the shorter form. So in the end if I found you entirely disagreeable I wouldn't bother replying to you. I only find you slightly disagreeable. But ,hey,dont let that stop you giving me your best shot.
Freud of Football
Roar Guru
Now Vinay, you are correct in saying that what happens on the edge of the pitch isn't that important except for it makes it difficult for pace bowlers on their follow-through and batsman need to continuously garden but inevitably the strips were getting closer and closer to the middle, at some point it would have been entirely black. At the end of the day it doesn't matter what the pitch looks like (I merely noted that it looked extraordinary as did the commentators) but how it plays and it played very ordinarily. Front foot players. Would you like to actually contradict my stereotype? Are Indian players, in general not the way I stereotyped them? The way they have been stereotyped for decades? Yes some Indian players are good off the back foot and I have seen Ghambir in some tests, he is a fine batsman coming forward and going back, as are Dhoni, Tendulkar, Sehwag etc etc. They can play off either foot, that I certainly won't deny but they are all adept front foot players with quick wrists, every single one of them and if they had to choose I'm sure the majority would prefer to play off the front foot. Just because a player prefers playing forward or back doesn't mean they are incapable of both Vinay, Ponting is excellent on front/back foot shots, it's simply with a preference that is invariably the first move the batsman makes and the Indians generally come forward. Did you see the highlights package of the half-century Yuvraj made? All of his boundaries were hit coming forward, not necessarily charging down the pitch but out of his crease. With Manou struggling the way he was the Indian batsman were safe as houses and could do whatever they wanted for the large part. Either way, stating a pretty common stereotype - it's not like I just come up with those points now - is hardly being disagreeable. The point wasn't about the Indian players anyway, it was the pitch and this one wasn't up to scratch.
Dave1
Guest
With pitches over the world becoming more and more alike, you think that it isnt time the ICC stepped in and evened out the playing field for all nations.
Dave1
Guest
but on less bouncy pithces it i seasier to lean forward and just hit though the ball
Whiteline
Guest
FOF To the contrary - cricket should encourage different conditions, grounds etc etc which are typical of a country or region. That is what used to make the game so great. Ever thought about why the indians struggle at the Gabba on a green top? Should they pack up their toys and go home? You have played cricket before yeh?