Crime and punishment

Unseasonal rains may have provided the Chepauk curator with an excuse, but any more pitches like this and we may as well bring out the coffin for Test cricket in India. If crowds are anything to go by, it perished in Pakistan years ago, and rigor mortis will soon set in elsewhere in the subcontinent as well.

Despite the fact that India's best results these days come on sporting pitches, the tradition of lifeless flatbeds continues to plague Test matches in India. Chennai once used to be an honourable exception, producing fantastic Test matches in 1999 [Pakistan], 2001 [Australia] and 2004 [when the final day against Australia was washed out].

In fact, ever since committees were instituted to look into pitch preparation in India, the situation has only got worse. The great irony is that the best pitch prepared in Indian in recent times was for all the wrong reasons. Nagpur in 2004 offered something for the pace bowlers, the spinners and batsmen of quality.

That it turned out that way, with a generous smattering of grass on top, had a lot to do with factional infighting in the BCCI, and in the furore, everyone forgot what a good surface it had been. Needless to say, Nagpur hasn't seen a similar pitch since, with subsequent games seeing the stereotypical mud-brown rubbish being prepared.

There's been a lot of talk lately of copying Australian aggression on the field. Along with that, a few lessons in pitch preparation wouldn't be amiss. Each surface in Australia has its distinct qualities, but they also invariably produce results, including the batting paradises at Adelaide and Hobart.

If the BCCI really cares about Test cricket, and recent developments like England's tour itinerary have done nothing to suggest that, it's high time centres were rewarded and penalised for the pitches they prepare. Mumbai was panned after the three-day game against Australia in 2004, but at least it produced a result, and a thrilling one at that. Any day that than a five-day ordeal where the bowlers are as peripheral as the fourth umpire.

My suggestion is simple: One high-scoring draw...bad luck. Two in succession...and you're out of luck. The centre then forfeits in next game, whether that be a Test or an ODI [the real cash cow which most venues crave]. With money doing all the talking, the only way to teach people a lesson is to hit them where it hurts.

Comments

[Muthu]

Hi Dileep,
Are you suggesting to BCCI or ICC that the venue to be banned if two high scoring draws occur continuously? Not sure, if they would ever do that.

About australian pitches, it was Glenn McGrath's and Shane Warne's legendry efforts that made results possible in those kind of wickets (adelaide, sydney). They also do not provide even contest between bat and ball to produce good cricket.

I don't think indian curators need to look to pitches prepared by other countries. If chennai/mumbai/kolkotta 2001, chennai 1999, kolkotta 2004-05 (vs sa and pak) type of pitches can be prepared consistently throughout the country, good test cricket can be produced.

[Tarun Y]

Hi Dileep,

Spot on!

Onto Ahmedabad -
that's another 'batting paradise' of a venue, isnt it? I heard a stat that the last time anybody won there was W.Indies back in 1983? (is that true?)

Also, with Sachin being ruled out - how do you see team selection?
Yuvraj in for Sachin, and bring in Pathan for RP? Ishant would be the 'out and out' wicket-taking option, but surely Irf offers something with the bat, and with a 'hit and miss' Yuvi coming in for Sachin --surely thats the best option, stregthening the batting?
what do you think?