When the mountains of cash pour in this year from the next broadcast deal Cricket Australia should set a good chunk aside to invest in the country’s pitch health.
The issue – which has been bubbling away for the best part of the last 15 years – was brought into sharp focus because of the state of the MCG deck for the fourth Ashes Test.
Over the five days only 24 wickets fell.
“It hasn’t changed over five days and I’d say if we were playing for the next couple of days it wouldn’t change at all,” was Australian skipper Steve Smith’s review after scoring yet another ton on the final day to secure a draw.
“I just don’t think it’s good for anyone.”
Match referee Ranjan Madugalle agreed, rating the wicket “poor” in his post-match report – an assessment that earnt the MCG the embarrassment of becoming the first Australian Test pitch to be described as such by the ICC.
“The bounce of the MCG pitch was medium, but slow in pace and got slower as the match progressed,” Madugalle said.
“The nature of the pitch did not change over the five days and there was no natural deterioration.
“The pitch did not allow an even contest between the bat and the ball.”
(Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
Cricket Victoria chief executive Tony Dodemaide thinks it might be time to dig up the drop-in wickets and start afresh with new soil and turf.
It’s a good call. There’s strong consensus among players, officials and fans that the MCG pitch is as docile as a koala on Stilnox. There have been three Sheffield Shield draws at the ground already this season.
But the MCG isn’t the only Australian wicket that could do with a makeover.
It’s well accepted that the strips across the nation have become more homogenous in recent times.
Since 2000 the Gabba isn’t as green as it used to be, the SCG doesn’t turn anywhere near as much as it used to and even the WACA isn’t as fast and bouncy as it used to be, although Test cricket has wound up there now. The MCG is plain docile. And Adelaide is still flat, but the day-night Tests at the ground mean the night session puts a bit of jazz through it.
Even over the last week leading into the fifth Ashes Test at the SCG the wicket has commonly been described as “spin-friendly”. It’s not. It certainly doesn’t take turn from day one like it used to more than 20 years ago. It deteriorates at the same rate as many Test wickets, but the best slow bowlers didn’t used to have to rely on the day-three footmarks to get them gripping and turning.
CA will be flush with money when the new BBL media deal is signed later this year – it’s expected to be a $300 million package – and the budget should be adjusted to account for a pitches allocation.
There’s some complexity given the various agreements with the landlords and the existence of co-tenants at the five Test grounds. For example, ultimate responsibility for the preparation of the MCG wicket falls to venue operators, the Melbourne Cricket Club.
(Michael Willson/AFL Media/Getty Images)
But it’s an investment worth making given what’s at stake: the entertainment value of Test cricket that makes the game many millions of dollars in TV revenue and gate takings (although there is some irony in the fact that any ICC fine for the poor pitch – likely to be a maximum of $18,000 – would be significantly inferior to the money made by CA for the Test going the full five days).
And the variation in pitch conditions globally is one of cricket’s great strengths – the green mamba in Durban, the seamer at Edgbaston, the raging bunsen burner in Nagpur, the scorched strip in Trinidad.
But aside from the financial imperative at international level, Australia’s young and upcoming domestic cricketers – as it stands – aren’t exposed to wildly different playing conditions.
Aussie coach Darren Lehmann has often lamented the way the wickets have gone. He compares his career – where he had to prove his skill and Test credentials with the bat by contending with bounce, seam and spin at Shield level – to those coming through the ranks these days whose adaptability isn’t pushed to the same degree.
It’s a point he laboured during Australia’s 2016 Test tour of Sri Lanka, where batting against quality spin bowling was exposed as was the ability of Nathan Lyon, Steve O’Keefe and Jon Holland to extract the same fizz and other tricks from the dusty wickets.
At least the drop-in pitches at the MCG and Adelaide (and I think the new Perth Stadium will be a drop-in) means experimentation and preparations can be done while the co-tenant AFL clubs are carving up the guts of the grounds.
For the SCG and Gabba, CA have the money but do they have the desire to do the best thing for the punter and future international players.
Michael Clare
Guest
Apart from dull, lifeless Australian pitches (which is stating the obvious) the other glaring issue for me is the lack of swing with the new ball. If pitches can't be changed with drop-ins becoming the new "norm" perhaps it's time to reconsider the place of the four-piece test cricket ball. Perhaps a high quality version of the two-piece ball that most club cricketers play on weekends might help even the battle between bat and ball. Bats have changed in recent times to bowler's detriment, so why not consider subtle changes to the ball? Some might argue a two-piece ball swings too much (Sir Don once wrote as much), but from what I've observed in recent seasons the current Kookaburra ball rarely moves in the air and swing bowling is a lost art in Australian conditions.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
It's not just about flattering batsmen either. These pitches make it hard to get wickets, but also make it hard to play shots, so batsmen are hard to get out, but easy to tie down, so we see slow, attritional cricket, where the only hope of the bowling team is to bore the batsman out, and the only hope of the batsman is to wait the bowlers out. It's the opposite to what there used to be where the ball would come onto the bat with true bounce making strokeplay and good run rates possible, but simultaneously keeping the bowlers in it.
Cadfael
Roar Guru
Don't forget that Adelaide trests arenowday/night games with a different ball. As Andersonshowed, plenty of swing in the evenings.
Alicesprings
Guest
The drop in at Geelong seems to be playing OK.
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
Flat pitches seem to be partly responsible for our batsmen's inability to score runs when the ball is seaming around. 60 and 136 (Chris Rogers made 52) In England. 82 at Bellerieve against South Africa.
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
As recently as 2014, state cricketing authorities were instructed to have curators prepare shield pitches with little life on day one. In effect, prepare a day two pitch for the start of play. Fines were threatened if too many day one wickets fell. This edict followed the dismal Indian tour and was supposed to give our batsmen more exposure to spin bowling. Quite silly really, given that spin on our wickets is a completely different beast to spin bowling on low, crumbling Indian Sri Lankan pitches.
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
Tony Tea
Guest
The points system kicked in on January 1.
Bakkies
Guest
Well the ACB dictating when Tassie were able to declare to allow Paine to bat didn't help that match and it may cost them at the end of the season. Tassie would have declared earlier to give their bowlers more time.
Bakkies
Guest
'In saying that, these guys have to get pitches up for 2 forms of the game where bat dominates ball, then prepare a completely different surface that allows for a contest across 5 days. That’s got to be bloody hard to do.' Blokes like Les Burdett and Kevin Mitchell did that for decades particularly when the game had a more balanced schedule with a one day game played on the day after the Shield game had completed right through the summer. This was on top of producing a test pitch. Burdett was known for producing batsmen's paradises however his pitches deteriorated to provide opportunities for the spinners and matches got results. Dizzy, Ryan Harris and others still were able to build first class careers bowling on a batsmen's paradise. The red ball has always been different to the white ball. It has different pieces and stitching.
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
People enjoyed cricket in those days because there was regularly a contest between bat and ball. Australian test pitches have been a major disappointment for many wanting to see that contest in recent years, flattering batsmen performances. if a pitch does have some grass and juice in it, we see teams bowled out for less than 100. Hopefully the South African tour will have some lively pitches and we can see just how good our much praised batsmen really are. Just one side note - since 2001, there have been 165 scores of 200 or more in test cricket. For the 80 years prior to that, there were 196. There was a slight increase in the 70's and 80's from low to mid 20's per decade to late 20's - low 30's), possibly due to covered wickets and increased again through the 90's (45 from 1991- 2000), possibly impacted by the limited bouncers per over law change. 2001 - 2010 saw this increase to just over 100 and in the seven years since then, over 60. There will be other factors, modern bat technology allowing mishits to clear the ropes at times and often clear the infield. for example. However, flat pitches contribute significantly to elevated batting stats. Sadly, Australian wickets are all too often removing the contest and making it little more than a test of patience and concentration.
Alicesprings
Guest
Agree. Little talk about the Adelaide pitch. Funny that. The poor pitch has less to do with the fact its a drop in and more to do with the simple fact the curator stuffed up.
way no way
Guest
The ground that will be sweating bullets will be the Blacktown ground. If they botch another, then they are in trouble. They host ICC matches in the age-grades. That NZ v CA XI pitch was deplorable. That would have been declared 'unfit' if it held a test.
Basil
Guest
and we could use tennis ball and get rid of all the protective equipment for batsmen!
Johnno
Guest
Tony....how does that work?
Johnno
Guest
Isn't the Adelaide pitch a drop in pitch.....and that goes well. I think states should start investing in developing drop ins. If Adelaide can do it, then the rest should.
Linphoma
Guest
With all this hoopla about pitches, here's one to throw into the ring: Why bring up the subject at all? Why not have test pitches prepared on astroturf like every park cricketer in the country? It'll be plenty quick onto the bat , regular bounce and carry. It won't break up but good spin bowlers will still prosper with the bounce. For variety's sake you can adjust the shag on the turf to suit the start of play on day one and shave it down on succeeding days. Rain delays would be negligible. Have them bat when the astroturf is still drying just like the old days batting on a sticky!
Not so super
Guest
Yeah, at least 345 people will turn up to watch
Linphoma
Guest
A number of pitches have been declared bad and subject to fine but the ICC never went ahead with any sanctions other than a tut tut.
Maggie
Guest
The irony is that not so long ago (10 to 15 years) several of the pitches were raging seamers, so much so that Sheffield Shield matches were barely lasting 3 days. In turn this was blamed for the inability of Australian batsmen to grind out long innings overseas. And so (it was reported) curators were instructed to flatten out pitches in Australia - too successfully apparently!