Fix The Pitches
The Australian’s have to be the biggest hypocrites in the world. For years and years we have heard criticism of pitches all over the world. The sub continent is to slow, low and turns too much, there is no help for fast bowlers. The Caribbean is to slow and low. It swings too much in England. Well have they ever looked at their own pitches. In the past they have boasted that their pitches are world class, giving every facet of the game a chance to shine. But recently we have just seen roads, giving only the batsmen a chance to shine.
Where has the early seam movement gone? Why is it taking so long to take turn? The Gabba pitch was one of the hardest for opening batsmen to handle in the whole world. The first morning of the first test would be a baptism of fire for any batsmen. The moisture in the pitch would allow the ball to move around a bit and after that it would flatten out a bit for the batsmen. But what did we see last week? Runs, runs and more runs. Simply not good enough. It just becomes boring to watch when the game is so one sided.
The fact that England could score 370 runs in their second innings against the likes of Lee, McGrath and Warne, proved that their first innings was just a one off. It is about time that the Australians started looking after their own back yard before commenting on others. The fact is that every country has a particular characteristic which gives the home side the “home side advantage.”
If all pitches in the world were the same then we would not see the class players we see today and test cricket just would not be a test anymore. We don’t hear other countries complaining that the ball bounces too much in Australia, so why should the Australian’s have to complain about foreign conditions? From what I have seen of late, all pitches all over the world give every facet of the game a chance to shine, apart from Australia. No wonder Ricky Ponting and co are scoring so many runs.
Where has the early seam movement gone? Why is it taking so long to take turn? The Gabba pitch was one of the hardest for opening batsmen to handle in the whole world. The first morning of the first test would be a baptism of fire for any batsmen. The moisture in the pitch would allow the ball to move around a bit and after that it would flatten out a bit for the batsmen. But what did we see last week? Runs, runs and more runs. Simply not good enough. It just becomes boring to watch when the game is so one sided.
The fact that England could score 370 runs in their second innings against the likes of Lee, McGrath and Warne, proved that their first innings was just a one off. It is about time that the Australians started looking after their own back yard before commenting on others. The fact is that every country has a particular characteristic which gives the home side the “home side advantage.”
If all pitches in the world were the same then we would not see the class players we see today and test cricket just would not be a test anymore. We don’t hear other countries complaining that the ball bounces too much in Australia, so why should the Australian’s have to complain about foreign conditions? From what I have seen of late, all pitches all over the world give every facet of the game a chance to shine, apart from Australia. No wonder Ricky Ponting and co are scoring so many runs.
Post a Comment