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All eyes were firmly fixed on the new Old Trafford pitch in the lead-up to the crucial third Test match. Head groundsman Matt Merchant had been working tirelessly to produce a surface that would hopefully provide an enthralling contest between bat and ball.
He had not prepared an Ashes wicket before and he admitted that he was feeling the pressure.
“You want to prepare a good pitch to entertain the fans,” he said.
“You are also under pressure to prepare a pitch for England to win on, and also revenue for the club is important, so you want the game to go five days.”
England, unbeaten at Old Trafford in all forms of the game since 2006, was naturally pleased with reassurances that the pitch would play similarly to its predecessors.
Not surprisingly, Australia had a number of complaints, namely that it appeared to be too spin-friendly.
Opening batsman Chris Rogers described the wicket as “interesting”.
He said, “there’s a few cracks there already so it’ll be interesting to see how it plays.”
Despite his initial concerns, Rogers looked to be in terrific form in the first session of day one.
The 35-year-old belted 14 boundaries and appeared to be set for a first Test century before he was dismissed just 16 runs short.
Rogers’ innings showed that the pitch’s reasonably consistent bounce should allow other batsmen to follow his lead and play their shots.
However, it appears that there is plenty for the bowlers too.
It’s no secret that England wanted a spinning deck and it didn’t take Graeme Swann long to strike, claiming the wickets of Usman Khawaja and Rogers.
Meanwhile, seamers James Anderson, Tim Bresnan and Stuart Broad all caused trouble at various times with some occasional late movement and low bounce.
It’s hard to tell how the pitch will play from here on, apart from the fact that it’ll undoubtedly start to spin more.
Here’s hoping it won’t deteriorate too much as this Test has the potential to be a thriller.
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