The future of Test cricket is Indian decks

We now have India getting Anderson charged for bumping Jadwega. The umpires thought nothing of it. The match referee though nothing of it but the Indian management have gone on to have Anderson charged and suspended. Suppose its worth it if they win.

Chris, The article I referred to mentions that in county matches they have experimented by not using the heavy roller which has livened the wickets up, otherwise the wickets behave as they do in test matches. Look at Headingley which used to be bowler friendly - at least to pace bowlers - and is now a batsman's paradise with large scores being run-up not just in test matches but county matches as well. It's possible that Old Trafford and The Rose Bowl may offer a bit more life later in the series between England and India but I'm not optimistic. In any event the consensus in England is that the new drainage systems are the main problem, although whether or not it is down to bad design I don't know. P.S. The reason for the length of the squares on county grounds is simply down to the amount of cricket played during the season, eg. 8 four day county championship games, a minimum 8 one day games, 8-9 T20 games, pre season friendlies, second xi championship games, possibly a 2-3 day game against the tourists, possibly a five day test, and other games like local club finals, England Women's matches,etc which require the large numbers of pitches on English squares.

When the Indians come to play Australia this year, I want to see them hopping and jumping around like the English were. Johnson, Harris and Pattinson should be on a mission to cause carnage.

I think if that's truly the case then it's just bad design. The drainage of most modern grounds is amazing. You get bucketing rain drenching the ground and yet they are up and playing an hour after the rain stops. But in most places that doesn't coincide with the pitches being completely dry. The centre wicket area is generally overall very different to the rest of the field in it's structure. And as it's covered very quickly in the event of rain, you don't actually need to have the same level of drainage there. However, one thing I noticed watching the last Ashes series in England was how many of the grounds had centre wicket areas that were at least twice the size of most Australian ones. Some of them seemed to go most of the way to the boundary (I can only think that the boundaries must be movable or you'd be blocking sixes on one side of the wicket). So if such a large chunk of the ground is centre wicket then it might be harder to have drainage done differently like that. However, the fact that so many people comment about the pitches being so different for first class matches suggests that there is a lot more too it than just drainage. Test pitches always have more preparation put into them than first class pitches, and so can have different characteristics, but they shouldn't be that different.

ak, I think it's basically down to the fact that they can water the outfield but the ICC restricts the watering of pitches and the new drainage does the rest. England were unfairly accused of preparing dry pitches in the last Ashes series in the UK but in truth they now seem to be the norm. This article may be of interest http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-india-2014/content/story/756913.html

The notion of "standardized" wickets was first introduced, and aggressively pushed by, Malcolm Speed during his tenure as ICC honcho.CEO Designer wickets are his legacy. And to ensure compliance, the ICC put together this document http://icc-live.s3.amazonaws.com/cms/media/about_docs/518a72c2e6f2b-Pitch%20Monitoring%20Process.pdf TEST MATCH PITCHES ALL PITCHES WILL BE JUDGED SOLELY ON HOW THEY PLAY. THE OBJECTIVE SHALL BE TO PROVIDE A BALANCED CONTEST BETWEEN BAT AND BALL OVER THE COURSE OF THE MATCH, ALLOWING ALL THE INDIVIDUAL SKILLS OF THE GAME TO BE DEMONSTRATED BY THE PLAYERS AT VARIOUS STAGES OF THE MATCH. Very Good Good carry, limited seam movement and consistent bounce throughout, little or no turn on the first two days but natural wear sufficient to be responsive to spin later in the game. Good Average carry, limited seam movement, consistent bounce throughout, natural wear sufficient to be responsive to spin later in the game, though not quite meeting the criteria for carry and bounce for a “very good” pitch. Above Average Lacks carry, and/or bounce and/or occasional seam movement, but consistent in carry and bounce. A degree of turn, but with average bounce for the spinner. Falling significantly short of “very good” with respect to carry, bounce and turn. Below Average Either very little carry and/or bounce and/or more than occasional seam movement, or occasional variable (but not excessive or dangerous) bounce and/or occasional variable carry. If a pitch demonstrates these features, then the pitch can not be rated in a higher category regardless of the amount of turn the pitch displays at any stage of the match. Poor If any of the following criteria apply, a pitch may be rated “poor”: a. The pitch offers excessive seam movement at any stage of the match b. The pitch displays excessive unevenness of bounce for any bowler at any stage of the match c. The pitch offers excessive assistance to spin bowlers, especially early in the match d. The pitch displays little or no seam movement or turn at any stage in the match together with no significant bounce or carry, thereby depriving the bowlers of a fair contest between bat and ball. Unfit A pitch may be rated „unfit‟ if it is dangerous. But feel free to slag India for all acts of omission or commissions, since narratives trump facts, and garner eyeballs any day of the week. Cheers,

Thanks mate for that info on the drainage system. I really was not knowing that. But then I do not understand as to why there is not even a slight tinge of grass on the wicket. There is lush green grass on the entire ground but why no grass on the pitch? How is the drainage system connected with that?

The reason there are no green tops in England any more is the new drainage systems installed at all the test grounds over the past ten years. With little moisture in the ground you inevitably get batsmen friendly wickets unless you get heavy overcast conditions. Look at the current test at Trent Bridge where there have been two 10th wicket partnerships of over 100 including a new world record of 187* so far between Root and Anderson.

What a very sad state of affairs if what your implying happens, Test Cricket is just that it's a test of players skills on differing pitches and in differing conditions. Who wants to watch Test Cricket being played on 20/20 flat trackers not I that's for sure.

India run cricket $, they do as they please, whatever India want in cricket they get. It seems all they want long term is T20 cricket too, and maybe ODI, but test cricket has no role in the future for India. Maybe Test cricket will become like horse polo a sport just for the rich, or some weird medieval sport played by weirdos and uni students who knows. Dungeons and dragons for nerds, a niche or weirdos club, maybe test cricket is turning into this type of sport as some of those examples. Is test cricket on it's last legs, well out of the 10 test cricket nations I reckon the following. Australia: Good they want it England:Good they want it South Africa: Crowds down big time future a worry, was a white man's sport test cricket in south africa, all the whites are leaving south africa, only 8% of the population is white, and the overwhelming majority of test cricketers in south africa have been white. India: Have so much money, can sustain a team even if no one watches and they lose money on tests in India. Pakistan: Bleak future in test cricket Sri Lanka: Bleak future, don't have the cash test cricket is an expensive sport to develop players now. NZ: Bleak future in tests, a small country and small economy. And please, don't compare the AB'S to the black caps. AB's are a global iconic brand $,the black caps are not. West Indies. Bleak future, test cricket is suffering cancer there, soon will be terminal I reckon Bangladesh: No future there done just about in test cricket Zimbabwe: Same see Bangladesh above A sport can't survive with just 1 market rarely, and the ones that do play regularly or are amatuer. AFL and NFL gridiron, play all the time over 100 matches a year, with big crowds and tv revenue, and US is largest sports market in world. And in Ireland GAA sports(gaelic football, and hurling) are both amateur so it doesn't matter, if only 1 country plays them, the players are amateur.

Notts is traditionally at first class level a seamers' wicket. It's very annoying that this wicket is like this. Who wants to see tail-enders (true tail-enders I mean) bashing bowling around too much?

The Trent Bridge wicket for the first test between England and India is the flattest that I have seen at this venue. It really creates a doubt as to why England should produce such a dead track. I expected a contest between the bat and a swinging ball. But this is boring. Now from the Indian point of view what is the meaning of having to go to England and play on a track which suits you? Even if India wins this test I at least cannot call it an overseas test win for India.

If our decks are flat it's more due to grounds accommodating the AFL season by having drop in pitches than anything the BCCI does.