- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Poor old Bellerive Oval. The ground rarely gets a visit from Test cricket’s elite and when the big boys do come to town they’re hardly complimentary.
The Australian team has visited just 10 times with red ball in hand and wearing white clothes since 1989.
Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Pakistan and the West Indies are the only four Test nations to have visited the patch of land south of the mainland.
The relationship has been strained of late.
New Zealand pulled off a seven run win in the Aussie’s last Test outing at the ground and the pitch was labelled the ‘Incredible Hulk’ because of its green complexion.
It was the first time Australia had lost a Test in Hobart. The Black Caps had blotted the record before though with draws in 1997 and 2001.
The ‘Incredible Hulk’ comparison wasn’t an exaggeration either.
Speaking with a former Australian international this week, he told me how after strolling to the middle of the ground he honestly couldn’t tell where the pitch ended and where the square started.
But the question we both asked ourselves was this: Does it really matter?
What’s wrong with a green top?
There has been so much whinging about the state of the Bellerive Oval pitch prior to the start of today’s first Test against Sri Lanka, you’d think the players were being asked to step out into a minefield.
Yes, the $440,000 upgrade to the surface completed in August didn’t provide immediate results.
In 10 Sheffield Shield innings on the new wicket there have been five scores under 150.
Players complained of variable bounce and the wicket not really being flat, but in the modern game batsmen rarely confront testing wickets, so the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.
Even the great ‘Gabba wicket in Brisbane, which has a reputation for being what they call a ‘result wicket’, failed to deliver in the first Test against South Africa.
The batsmen felt so comfortable that some are considering returning for their holidays where they’ll be served drinks with little umbrellas in them.
Test cricket used to provide an even contest between bat and ball.
It would be a tough slog for the first two or three days, but then the pitch would start to deteriorate and the bowlers would get some reward for their effort.
Any commentator in the modern game would be hard pressed to find a crack big enough to stick the car keys or a size 11 Julius Marlow in.
Batsmen used to leap around like a gymnast come days four and five.
Now, more often than not, bowlers battle to get any response from a dull pitch and a battered six-stitcher that goes softer than a stress ball.
It hasn’t all been doom and gloom for batsmen in Bellerive.
Australia scored 519 in the first innings against Pakistan in 2010, 542 in the first dig in 2007 against Sri Lanka and 406 against the West Indies in 2005. When Matthew Hayden trudged off the ground that day, the hosts were 1 for 231.
So bring on the green top.
It would be nice to see batsmen show some grit, determination and patience while the ball hoops around.
Who knows, they may even enjoy it.
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.