1st test AUS V IND

[Beny]

First Test pitch 'terrible': Buchanan



October 4, 2004







John Buchanan doesn't like what he sees © AFP


John Buchanan, the Australian coach, described the pitch at Chinnaswamy Stadium as "terrible" as groundsmen scrubbed away the last remnants of grass with steel brushes and the head curator declared: "Spin."

The bone-dry wicket for the first Test at Bangalore could have passed for a 22-yard stretch of desert less than 48 hours before the first ball was due to be bowled on Wednesday, with a network of cracks running from one end of the barren surface to the other.

Sourav Ganguly claimed Australia was fretting about playing his side and said they would miss Ricky Ponting more than India would miss Sachin Tendulkar, but the craggy pitch overshadowed any attempts from Ganguly to begin a verbal stoush.

The track was obviously being groomed for Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble and possibly a third Indian slow bowler in Murali Kartik, but the kickback for Australia was that Shane Warne would also derive great benefit as he chases Muttiah Muralitharan's world wicket-taking record.

"By all reports it should hold together, but it looks terrible," Buchanan said. "It looks like it's going to break up. You're just not sure what's underneath, how much preparation.

"We suspect it will gradually dust up a little bit. Who knows what it will be doing on the fourth and fifth day. I wouldn't expect it to be breaking up on the third day. That sounds like a commentator's comment, doesn't it? There's probably a key lost down there.

"The upside is because it's abrasive one would expect the ball to reverse swing [for the fast bowlers]. And it should be a little bit up and down. It might skid, so the ball could shoot along a little bit. That's a positive for Warney."

Rahul Dravid smiled wryly but declined to share his thoughts on the state of the pitch before the Australian fast bowler, Michael Kasprowicz, said he could already feel a sore back coming on.

Australia's chairman of selectors, Trevor Hohns, said the curator's masterpiece was not a surprise and claimed it was unlikely to alter the makeup of the side, with Australia still expected to field three fast bowlers and Warne while giving young batsman Michael Clarke a Test debut. "It seems it's going to be hard work everywhere," said Hohns.

Tendulkar is yet to be formally ruled out of the Test with his elbow injury but seems certain to be unavailable alongside Ponting, whose broken thumb will keep him out of the series until the third Test at Nagpur.

[Rachael]

What a damn nerve Buchanan has: Aussie wickets, year in, year out, without fail, offer so little to any normal bowler, on a spectrum from Matty Hoggard to Ashley Giles, that... to be honest.. they might as well all just stay at home. Year in, year out, Aussie tracks are a disgrace: a batsman's paradise on which seamers rarely, if ever, get lateral seam or swing movement.. in which no bowler is ever able to exploit a bit of uncertainty in the bounce to sort out poor batting technique and introduce hesitation about playing cross bat shots

The only people who fare worse than honest medium pacers on Aussie tracks are the finger spinners... who are so consistently unable to find purchase that they become all but redundant as strike bowlers and of limited value even as stock bowlers. Suits Buchanan fine as he has some leggies who like the pace and bounce.... but sucks for the rest of the cricketing universe.

For Buchananto criticise the Indian groundsmen from perparing a track that actually allows for a decent contest between bat and ball and offers some encouragement to slow bowlers on EITHER side is pretty damn rich: he can start taking the moral high ground when he's got his own house in order.

[Nikhil]

The only thing I would like to add here, is preparing pitches to suit the home bowlers and/or batsmen is called 'home advantage'. Most countries use it.

As a matter of fact, Buchanan himself has said he does not expect the pitch to break for three days, which is quite normal. Any good pitch will break after three or four days.

[Beny]

I couldent dissagree more Rachel.

For example Perth is a bowlers paridise, even I could bowl well there. Sydeny is good for the spinners ect We never overdoo our pitches to suit one type of bowler like the sub-continentals tend to.

Anyway I wasent having a complain I was just getting the thread started.

[Beny]

Kasper labels pitch a dry creek bed
Robert Craddock
Bangalore
05oct04

INDIA has shamelessly doctored the first Test pitch to suit its spin bowling strength, tossing up a "dry creek bed" which the local media has branded "an absolute shocker".

Australian players, particularly the young ones not used to such sights, were stunned to drive through the green, leafy streets of Bangalore and then find the only piece of land in the entire city which had not received moisture from six weeks of constant rain was the parched strip that will host tomorrow's first Test.



One player uttered nothing more than a one-syllable swear word when he saw it.

Another fast bowler, when asked what he would get out of it, said "a sore back".

The Chinnaswamy Stadium deck is full of cracks, some more than half a centimetre wide, and just to make sure there was as little grass cover as possible, the groundsmen got on their hands and knees and scrubbed it off with a steel brush even though there was two days to go before the match.

The cracks became so wide yesterday that groundstaff tried to improve the wicket's appearance by placing mud down the wider ones to act as a type of glue.

The wicket's only redeeming feature is its hardness, though it is a worry for batsmen because some of the cracks already look flaky. It should play well for a few days before deteriorating.

Rain is forecast for the next three days but few people expect the game to go the distance and the side which bats first could have a major advantage.

Australian coach John Buchanan described the wicket as "terrible" to look at, but saw possible spin-offs for the fast men. "The upside for the seamer is because it is abrasive one would expect the ball will reverse swing," Buchanan said.

"The second is it should skid and be up and down. That's a positive for Warnie. It will be low, won't have a huge amount of bounce and turn.

"By all reports it should hold together but it looks as if it will break up. You are just not sure what is underneath. I suspect it will dust up but we are playing at a time of year when it is not so hot."

The Australians believe the wicket will play better than it looks and could simply be the type of slow, featureless, deck seen in the West Indies last year that demands precision from the bowlers.

But there was no denying it had been purpose built for India's reunited spin stars Harbhajan Singh and, particularly, Anil Kumble, the feisty spinner who was raised a few kilometres from the ground and is a demon on wearing wickets.

Indian batsman Rahul Dravid had a long look at the wicket yesterday and left with a wry smile.

Joey Hoover, respected cricket scribe from Bangalore's Deccan Herald, was saddened by the sight of a deck that Michael Kasprowicz likened to a dry creek bed.

"I'm 44 and I played my first game here when I was 13 and in that time I have only seen one other wicket like it here," Hoover said.

"It has been raining here every day for six weeks and we get a wicket like that. I'm really disappointed.

"People say it's good for India, but it's not good for cricket. The big thing will be if it gets hot. Then it will break up. If it doesn't it might not be too bad."

Hoover's back page story yesterday described the pitch as "an absolute shocker . . . a barren, bone-dry, craggy deck".

Groundsmen were reportedly told three weeks ago not to water the wicket.

Selection chairman Trevor Hohns said the wicket would not alter Australia's thinking -- it would still play three fast bowlers.

Kasprowicz, who took five wicket here to win Australia the third Test of the 1998 series, said the wicket had similarities to the '98 deck. "It looks like the type of wicket you will see in a one-day game. It should last five days though. The whole square is very solid."

[Rachael]

Originally Posted by Beny

I couldent dissagree more Rachel. For example Perth is a bowlers paridise, even I could bowl well there. Sydeny is good for the spinners ect We never overdoo our pitches to suit one type of bowler like the sub-continentals tend to.

How many of these Aussie tracks have needed declarations in the last 10 years though? How many have seen routine first innings totals of over 450? I may be getting the wrong end of the stick.. but it seems to me that virtually every game that's played in Aus these days sees batsmen filling their boots at more than 3 an over.. a hundred runs being added to totals every session.. 300 hundred runs being added every day.. 1st inings totals of 550, 600, 650 or higher... and declarations to keep the game down to fewer than 10 days...

Maybe there are Aussie grounds where you routinely see fewer than 1000-1200 runs put on the board over the 5 days... where batsmen are scratching around, unable to time the ball... where cross bat shots would be suicidal.. where good technique to keep out the shooter is necessary.. where a Gary Kirsten is more important to your team than a Mark Waugh.. but I don't seem to hear of such games.

My impression remains that Test cricket in Aus is now a 4 day preamble (runfest with declarations) leading to a target being set for a run chase.. and then a ODI finish which is the only bit that really matters.

I must admit that I would prefer a pitch like the one that Sri Lanka prepared for one of the games against Aus last winter... where the ball was swinging and seaming like crazy for Zoysa and then cracked up mightily for the spinners by day 3-4... but if there's uneven bounce and movement off the seam then the lack of pace and swing shouldn't be a problem. At least the batsmen will have to work hard!

[Shaka]

Isn't Warne back? I would think he'll be twice as dangerous as any Indian spinner on a dry track. As long as the pitch is even I don't think there can be any complaints but obviously all countries have an obligation to prepare a certain standard of pitch...but from noises made so far it doesn't seem that the pitch is a bad one...just dry.

[Nick]

The most dangerous bowler on this pitch IMO will be Kumble, due to the bounce he generates. That is assuming that reports of a dry hard surface with cracks is true. I find it hard to see beyond an Indian win to be honest, and think Australia might be rueing the fact they left Stuart McGill at home.

[Zainub]

In all honestly, I think all that has been said about the pitch may turn out to be over hyped in the end. India's strength is their batting, and if the prepare pitches that favor spin bowling overwhelmingly it might turn out to be a policy than can back fire on the home team considering the Aussies have Shane Warne among their ranks, so they must have kept that in their minds and prepare a pitch accordingly. I'm preety optimistic that the pitch will produce an even and fair contest between bat and ball - a good exciting test match all in all.

[Rachael]

Seems unlikely that Warne is going to like this pitch: Warne likes pitches with pace and bouce.. where the rotation he gets on the ball (and the air he gives the ball) leads to the ball spitting off the pitch (high and fast). On this track Warne's balls are just going to lose all there energy on impact and die quietly - if he's anything other than superbly accurate he's going to be vulnerable.. and if someone likes Laxman gets after him I could see him even being hit out of the attack.

Kumble and Muralitheran get little out of Aussie pitches.. because there's not enough rough for them.. and Warne doesn't like sub-continental wickets because there's not enough bounce: that's cricket.. they just have to live with it.