Romeo
12 Dec 2006, 16:10
I agree with him, the pitches seem to be all flat and aren't diverse in character like they used to be. Perth was always bouncy and lively, Sydney actually seamed in the 70's and was often described as a greentop, Melbourne was variable in nature, Adelaide flatish but took wicked spin late, while Brisbane gave the bowlers quite a deal of help.
It's false now to describe our decks as pacy and a great test for batsmanship. If we aren't careful we will lose our advantage over sub-continent teams who find our higher bouncing, faster pitches challenging (at least they used to be). The pitch for the first test in NZ had more life in it than ever of our recent test ones and the tracks in South Africa are now much more renowned for the assistance they give to the seamers.
It's about time this situation was remedied; it can't only be the drought.
Cook laments lack of chin music as bouncy decks lose mojo
Andrew Ramsey
December 12, 2006
FORMER England under-19 captain Alastair Cook has challenged a truism about Australian cricket pitches that has existed almost since his namesake discovered the Great South Land 236 years ago.
Cook claimed that Australia no longer boasts the fastest, bounciest pitches in the world and that the honour now rests with England. The 21-year-old's assessment is based on the benign decks the tourists have encountered in the Ashes series to date.
With the WACA Ground expected to produce a lifeless deck for the third Test which begins on Thursday, Cook believes Australian curators could learn a lesson from their often-maligned English counterparts.
"You hear everything about coming to Australia and the bouncy wickets (but) the bounciest wickets I've played in my career so far have all been in England," Cook said yesterday.
"It's been surprising. The Adelaide one (for the second Test) was very slow. It was more like a subcontinental wicket."
Cook claimed the pitch used for last weekend's two-day tour match at the WACA exhibited a bit of life early but then flattened into a trouble-free batting surface on which he plundered a confidence-boosting century.
He added that while the practice nets at the ground seemed "quite lively" he, like the remainder of the English and Australian squads, had no idea how the Test strip would play.
But local experts believe it is likely to be something of a bowlers' graveyard and offer marginally more to the spinners than the seamers.
While England underwent a team bonding session last night thanks to captain Andrew Flintoff organising the entire squad to attend an Elton John concert in Perth, Cook has also been working on tightening his batting technique.
Having shown uncertainty outside his off stump to Australia's pace bowlers operating around the wicket, the left-hander has re-aligned his batting stance and trained assiduously against net bowlers and training staff replicating the Australian ploy.
"It has been different, but I've reacted to that and practised my technique, studied it and now I'm feeling very confident about it," Cook said.
It's false now to describe our decks as pacy and a great test for batsmanship. If we aren't careful we will lose our advantage over sub-continent teams who find our higher bouncing, faster pitches challenging (at least they used to be). The pitch for the first test in NZ had more life in it than ever of our recent test ones and the tracks in South Africa are now much more renowned for the assistance they give to the seamers.
It's about time this situation was remedied; it can't only be the drought.
Cook laments lack of chin music as bouncy decks lose mojo
Andrew Ramsey
December 12, 2006
FORMER England under-19 captain Alastair Cook has challenged a truism about Australian cricket pitches that has existed almost since his namesake discovered the Great South Land 236 years ago.
Cook claimed that Australia no longer boasts the fastest, bounciest pitches in the world and that the honour now rests with England. The 21-year-old's assessment is based on the benign decks the tourists have encountered in the Ashes series to date.
With the WACA Ground expected to produce a lifeless deck for the third Test which begins on Thursday, Cook believes Australian curators could learn a lesson from their often-maligned English counterparts.
"You hear everything about coming to Australia and the bouncy wickets (but) the bounciest wickets I've played in my career so far have all been in England," Cook said yesterday.
"It's been surprising. The Adelaide one (for the second Test) was very slow. It was more like a subcontinental wicket."
Cook claimed the pitch used for last weekend's two-day tour match at the WACA exhibited a bit of life early but then flattened into a trouble-free batting surface on which he plundered a confidence-boosting century.
He added that while the practice nets at the ground seemed "quite lively" he, like the remainder of the English and Australian squads, had no idea how the Test strip would play.
But local experts believe it is likely to be something of a bowlers' graveyard and offer marginally more to the spinners than the seamers.
While England underwent a team bonding session last night thanks to captain Andrew Flintoff organising the entire squad to attend an Elton John concert in Perth, Cook has also been working on tightening his batting technique.
Having shown uncertainty outside his off stump to Australia's pace bowlers operating around the wicket, the left-hander has re-aligned his batting stance and trained assiduously against net bowlers and training staff replicating the Australian ploy.
"It has been different, but I've reacted to that and practised my technique, studied it and now I'm feeling very confident about it," Cook said.