Shield Round 1: Queensland vs Tasmania, Karen Rolton Oval, Oct.7-10. 11 am AEST

[BGman]

You could even play at Bellerive.

Be a better deck than this for a fair contest.

suburban pitches in general, is that they don't come onto the bat or produce a lot of movement.

They are turf surfaces same as the major venue pitches. So the problem is in the curating.. surely. There is just no where near the required grass come game day to allow for some movement. Remember that match in Melbourne year or so ago with the deck so slow, flat and benign that Pucovski and Harris scored double tons with ease..

 

[eth-dog]

McDermott and going out between 50 and 100, name a more iconic duo?

 

[BStaff17]

Great to see Tim Ward who comes from my local grade team Parramatta score his maiden FC 100 in his 2nd FC game.

Move to tassie looks like is paying off for him. Opportunity was blocked like many young batsman so moved out of NSW hopefully he has a great summer.

 

[The Passenger]

Not sure how Charlie Wakim with a @28 FC average continues to be picked at state level.

One of those guys who is a good grade cricketer but - unfortunately - just doesn't have it at the next level. No shame in that at all - it's a bloody high level of cricket and the list of players who fall into this category is well long.

Not sure how he has gone in Hobart grade, but his record in Sydney at the time he left was very good with three consecutive seasons of both 600+ runs and 40+ average.

You do have to ask whether it's the best thing for Tasmania's development to be playing an import of his age (30yo) who at absolute best might get his average up to 35 but that feels like a real big stretch - he is much more likely to finish his shield career with a sub-30 FC average.

I reckon his private schooling years left him short on development. There was a bit of buzz about him out of high school but it took him four years to start getting amongst the (aforementioned) runs for Uni of NSW, such is the leap from private school cricket to proper adult cricket.

Ed Cowan went through a similar malaise early in his adult grade career, though he was a couple of rungs up the talent ladder compared to Wakim, so still managed to get a baggy green.

There's plenty of stories of CAS and GPS cricketers struggling to make the leap in Sydney grade cricket, and I imagine similar in other states.

 

[BGman]

Move to tassie looks like is paying off for him.

Another good young batsmen those blind Blues selectors ignored. Preferring to hold onto blokes well past their used by date. I have seen quite a lot of Ward in club and rep team Tassie cricket since his move south. So no surprise that the TCA wants him to replace the retired Alex Doolan. Quality openers are as scarce as snow in hell in this country. We may just have unearthed one in Tim Ward.

 

[corbies]

Another good young batsmen those blind Blues selectors ignored. Preferring to hold onto blokes well past their used by date. I have seen quite a lot of Ward in club and rep team Tassie cricket since his move south. So no surprise that the TCA wants him to replace the retired Alex Doolan. Quality openers are as scarce as snow in hell in this country. We may just have unearthed one in Tim Ward.

Like who?

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Another good young batsmen those blind Blues selectors ignored. Preferring to hold onto blokes well past their used by date. I have seen quite a lot of Ward in club and rep team Tassie cricket since his move south. So no surprise that the TCA wants him to replace the retired Alex Doolan. Quality openers are as scarce as snow in hell in this country. We may just have unearthed one in Tim Ward.

NSW are a young team especially in batsmen it's the bowlers you'd have a point on. Which batsman apart from Henriques is old and he had a brilliant year last season. I'm a little sceptical using these games as proof a bloke can bat- everyone is getting runs it's as flat as the Hume Highway.

 

[eth-dog]

Be a better deck than this for a fair contest.

They are turf surfaces same as the major venue pitches. So the problem is in the curating.. surely. There is just no where near the required grass come game day to allow for some movement. Remember that match in Melbourne year or so ago with the deck so slow, flat and benign that Pucovski and Harris scored double tons with ease..

It's not about the curators themselves, they simply don't have the resources that the major stadiums do.

And that was in Adelaide.

 

[corbies]

Does anyone here actually have any idea how to curate a pitch to give it certain characteristics? I have absolutely no idea about it but it seems like it's harder than just saying "lets make this one bouncy".

 

[eth-dog]

Does anyone here actually have any idea how to curate a pitch to give it certain characteristics? I have absolutely no idea about it but it seems like it's harder than just saying "lets make this one bouncy".

Theoretically yes (I did study this) but in practice no because I never worked at a place that had the facilities to explore that. It's very hard for suburban grounds to produce anything bouncy.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Theoretically yes (I did study this) but in practice no because I never worked at a place that had the facilities to explore that. It's very hard for suburban grounds to produce anything bouncy.

Leave grass on it then and make it green

 

[eth-dog]

Leave grass on it then and make it green

Yeah, no. There's a lot more involved.

 

[corbies]

Yeah, no. There's a lot more involved.

Just leave grass on it m8.

 

[eth-dog]

Just leave grass on it m8.

So don't mow it at all? Okay cool, I'll pass it onto the guys who are more qualified and experienced than me.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

So don't mow it at all? Okay cool, I'll pass it onto the guys who are more qualified and experienced than me.

Better it green than flat. Honestly how does this help us develop our side

 

[2notepockets]

Also not a curator by any stretch, but the facilities at Karen Rolton for pitch prep would be far superior than your standard suburban ground... If you leave too much grass the pitch will be slower and not break up at all, also a bit of a consequence of trying to make it hard and fast.

This deck looks like it should turn later based on the little bit I saw yesterday khunneman looked like he was bowling well.

 

[eth-dog]

Better it green than flat. Honestly how does this help us develop our side

It's clear as day you have no idea what you're talking about so do everyone in this thread a favour and be quiet.

At places like these (without sunlamps at the most basic level) leaving grass on the pitch often has the opposite effect that you desire. It makes the pitch softer and slower and disadvantages spinners because it makes it harder to rough the pitch up so you don't get the turn later in the game. There's also the fact that weather conditions play a huge part in what kind of pitch is produced and you have to work around that.

"Just leave grass on the pitch". If you think it's that easy go and apply for a head curators job at your local turf ground.

 

[eth-dog]

Also not a curator by any stretch, but the facilities at Karen Rolton for pitch prep would be far superior than your standard suburban ground... If you leave too much grass the pitch will be slower and not break up at all, also a bit of a consequence of trying to make it hard and fast.

This deck looks like it should turn later based on the little bit I saw yesterday khunneman looked like he was bowling well.

They'd be superior to a local ground, not as much as you'd think, but still vastly inferior to the Adelaide Oval, MCG, etc.

Honestly I feel like this is the way to go for the likes of Karen Rolton/Junction/Woolongong/Ian Healy/AB Field (although those two could probably go for grass due to the climate up there) pitch prep. Make it hard and work towards it becoming a spinners wicket later in the day.

 

[eth-dog]

What about disadvantages pacemen. The blokes that have to bowl their backsides off on benign decks. How do we improve the pitches for them?

Play more games at the big stadiums. Extremely difficult for grounds like this to produce wickets that are hard enough that the grass doesn't slow it down.

 

[Westend]

Nice to see young Tim Ward get a ton

 

[BGman]

Play more games at the big stadiums.

Dead set batting on these decks does nothing to improve a technique if that is a weakness you have. It is poor Test prep for both bowler and batsman. So what is CA motive behind asking professional cricketers to play their best cricket on these poor excuses for pitches.

 

[Westend]

Play more games at the big stadiums. Extremely difficult for grounds like this to produce wickets that are hard enough that the grass doesn't slow it down.

I actually think the pitches are not the entire problem.....but rather the ball.....the kookaburra compared to the duke ....it just does not swing

I have always found it strange that the ICC does not have one standard ball throughout the world...money I guess

 

[BGman]

Nice to see young Tim Ward get a ton

Early days but Australian cricket may have unearthed a future Test opener. He cracked 180 for Uni of Tasmania in last season Premier grand final too.

the kookaburra compared to the duke ....it just does not swing

Yep and CA in their wisdom removed the Dukes from state cricket. Seems whatever our cricket bosses do is to the detriment of Shield cricket.

 

[eth-dog]

Dead set batting on these decks does nothing to improve a technique if that is a weakness you have. It is poor Test prep for both bowler and batsman. So what is CA motive behind asking professional cricketers to play their best cricket on these poor excuses for pitches.

At this stage of the year none of the major stadiums would have been ready for a game except for the WACA, maybe.

I actually think the pitches are not the entire problem.....but rather the ball.....the kookaburra compared to the duke ....it just does not swing

I have always found it strange that the ICC does not have one standard ball throughout the world...money I guess

It's a bit of both.

 

[eth-dog]

..and WA is still closed to the rest of Australia?

Pretty much.

I will also say that the week leading into this game would have been less than ideal for the curators. They've actually done a pretty reasonable job to give it a chance to turn later in the game.