The Flat Deck Problem

[The Speaker]

Australia's captain Steven Smith has criticised the nature of home pitches this summer, arguing that the Gabba and the WACA Ground in particular have work to do to ensure they regain their natural characteristics in the future.

Following the loss of the fifth and final ODI against India in Sydney, Smith noted the series' record tally of 3159 runs in a five-match limited-overs bout. He went on to state that Australian pitches needed to show more variety than had been the case this time around, when the Test matches against New Zealand and West Indies were also marked by dull surfaces, with the exception of a well-grassed Adelaide pitch for the inaugural day/night Test.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia-v-india-2015-16/content/story/964877.html

 

[greatwhiteshark]

http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia-v-india-2015-16/content/story/964877.html

Interesting that Pat Howard agrees as if it is not an instruction to produce these crap pitches. No way in hell the curators want to produce them

 

[The Speaker]

Interesting that Pat Howard agrees as if it is not an instruction to produce these crap pitches. No way in hell the curators want to produce them

They're only responding now because they're getting a genuine backlash. Not that I trust them to changs things.

 

[King Elvis]

At least Smith is speaking up about it.

 

[The_Reaper]

They're only responding now because they're getting a genuine backlash. Not that I trust them to changs things.

On the other hand even though the Saffers have declined you'd still back any test against them to last at minimum 4 days, even on a wicket that offers something to the bowlers.

Plus two day-nighters next year.

 

[gbatman]

Ball should swing early in ODI cricket but we haven't seen that at all this season. Flat wickets and a big slog fest, that's for the big bash. ODI cricket should be a more even contest slightly in favor of the batsmen. Test cricket should be an even contest between bat and ball, trouble is they are aiming for matches to go 5 days when they should be aiming for 4 with the 5th day seen as more an option to settle a result. I'm guessing the wickets just don't have to moisture in them and the deep down moisture that will continue to come up throughout much of the game because they are drop in pitches and drain too well and don't hold moisture well. Hard to say, I'm not a curator.

ODIs at least were even between both sides. It's just boring when bowlers are unable to execute their skills due to the conditions.

 

[KissKiss]

I miss pitches with big cracks opening up every where late in the game

 

[strewthcobber]

Ball should swing early in ODI cricket but we haven't seen that at all this season. Flat wickets and a big slog fest, that's for the big bash. ODI cricket should be a more even contest slightly in favor of the batsmen. Test cricket should be an even contest between bat and ball, trouble is they are aiming for matches to go 5 days when they should be aiming for 4 with the 5th day seen as more an option to settle a result. I'm guessing the wickets just don't have to moisture in them and the deep down moisture that will continue to come up throughout much of the game because they are drop in pitches and drain too well and don't hold moisture well. Hard to say, I'm not a curator.

ODIs at least were even between both sides. It's just boring when bowlers are unable to execute their skills due to the conditions.

The majority of pitches in his ODI series are not drop-ins.

Also could you please explain how the pitch affects swing bowling early in the innings?

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[Carbine Chaos]

Also could you please explain how the pitch affects swing bowling early in the innings?

I think a lot of it is to do with how the pitch impacts the ball - an abrasive or flat surface damages it and hurts the ball's ability to swing, whereas a pitch with grass left on it like the Adelaide one keeps the ball in good knick and able to swing.

 

[strewthcobber]

I think a lot of it is to do with how the pitch impacts the ball - an abrasive or flat surface damages it and hurts the ball's ability to swing, whereas a pitch with grass left on it like the Adelaide one keeps the ball in good knick and able to swing.

From early in the innings?

 

[Carbine Chaos]

From early in the innings?

I don't know haha.

 

[gbatman]

The majority of pitches in his ODI series are not drop-ins.

Also could you please explain how the pitch affects swing bowling early in the innings?

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yeah I think you're right, perhaps it's got something to do with the dry season and lack of subsoil moisture. Generally need some level of moisture to produce swing or seam movement.

 

[greatwhiteshark]

I think a lot of it is to do with how the pitch impacts the ball - an abrasive or flat surface damages it and hurts the ball's ability to swing, whereas a pitch with grass left on it like the Adelaide one keeps the ball in good knick and able to swing.

The ball staying in good nick helps of course but there is a couple of reasons the ball swings.
A) the ball will swing with favourable wind conditions but in the modern day stadiums the wind swirls more than just blowing one way, even the Freo Doctor is not what it once was before the Lillee-Marsh stand was built. But with the correct wind it will swing more directly from the hand and is not such a threat to the batsman.

B) the best and most common way he ball will swing is having grass on the pitch, live grass. You will notice especially in India how the ball swings once it has passed the batsman and on the way to the keeper, that is because it is moving above live grass. Live grass creates a dense humid change in the temp just above it especially in the hot sun as the grass sweats. This can be deadly for quick bowlers as it swings very late on the batsman.
Without live grass on a pitch it will be highly unlikely that the ball will swing which is what we are currently seeing. Of course with grass on the pitch the ball will stay in good condition much longer and will also make the ball seam off the pitch. India always shave their pitches completely because they want to bowl spin to their opposition and they are void of moisture.
That is not the case in Australia as we are shaving our pitches and making them void of moisture to let our batsman dominate. Many countries do this.

 

[strewthcobber]

yeah I think you're right, perhaps it's got something to do with the dry season and lack of subsoil moisture. Generally need some level of moisture to produce swing or seam movement.

Read a study that claimed optimum swing conditions were cool, overcast and still - and we don't get much of that in Australia over summer and especially not in an El Nino summer.

It was an interesting one because most studies claim humidity has no effect at all!

 

[HBF]

We really have to do something about this before Pakistan and South Africa get here next Summer. These roads have been awful this summer.
The drop in pitches have a lot of work needed to be done to them.

 

[strewthcobber]

We really have to do something about this before Pakistan and South Africa get here next Summer. These roads have been awful this summer.
The drop in pitches have a lot of work needed to be done to them.

Which drop-ins have you been unhappy with? The Adelaide one which produced the best pitch all year or the MCG one which has had 19 results from 20 tests?

 

[greatwhiteshark]

We really have to do something about this before Pakistan and South Africa get here next Summer. These roads have been awful this summer.
The drop in pitches have a lot of work needed to be done to them.

It has nothing to do with drop in pitches and in any case only two grounds have drop ins.
It is just a clear instruction from the cricket board or channel 9 to the curators to produce lifeless pitches.
The Adelaide test lasted just 3 days but that was just very poor batting, the pitch was still a great batting pitch but the batsman simply did not have the skill or patience to perform on it. The ball did swing a little but it did little off the seam. I think the novelty of the day night test got to them. the pitch was still a batting pitch

 

[Stopher]

We really have to do something about this before Pakistan and South Africa get here next Summer. These roads have been awful this summer.
The drop in pitches have a lot of work needed to be done to them.

A bit of grass on the pitch and letting the quality fast bowling attacks of Australia, South Africa and Pakistan crack in (especially if one or two Tests are under lights with pinky!) would make for a very entertaining summer of cricket

 

[Wolfs]

I think a major problem about flat decks that no one talks about are the injuries to bowlers. It puts a lot of pressure for a bowler to land on a hard pitch and can lead to more often that not an increase in injuries.

 

[The_Reaper]

I think a major problem about flat decks that no one talks about are the injuries to bowlers. It puts a lot of pressure for a bowler to land on a hard pitch and can lead to more often that not an increase in injuries.

It puts a lot of pressure on a bowler to bowl fast because they need the pace to be a threat on Australian flattracks.

Behrendorff is a great example. Very dominant domestic bowler for a number of years and a good record of being fit. Gets close to Australian selection, knows the selectors want blokes who can regularly bowl over 140k, ramps up his pace and has two consecutive seasons ruined by back stress fractures

 

[officialjc]

bump. will we actually get some fast bouncy pitches this summer? a pitch that will assist starc, cummins and co to rattle the poms. cricket has been a bit boring the last few home series and the ashes needs to be a spectacle.

i know this is an odi but a strip like this. you can just feel the zip off the pitch.

 

[damochandler]

Gabba hasn’t been a fast bouncy pitch for as long as I can remember. We get fooled by what we see in shield games

 

[Cleavy]

bump. will we actually get some fast bouncy pitches this summer? a pitch that will assist starc, cummins and co to rattle the poms. cricket has been a bit boring the last few home series and the ashes needs to be a spectacle.

no, we want 5 day Te$t$.

 

[04 Durif]

‘I heard the WACA is back to its bouncy best’.
If you had to chug a beer every time you heard that you would be drunk by the time one bounces to the keeper on Day 1

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

The majority of pitches in his ODI series are not drop-ins.

Also could you please explain how the pitch affects swing bowling early in the innings?

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Haha!! I was going to post the same thing. Unbelievable comment.