The PlanetCricket View: Test cricket nowadays and pitches

[PlanetCricket]

Article by Aditya -

The recent test matches between India vs West Indies and South Africa vs Australia have got me thinking that what is really an ideal pitch and what is really the problem with test matches? Is it a pitch that favors the batsmen, is it the pitch that favors the bowlers or simply an even pitch favoring both. Most will go with the third option and I would too but that’s not what the reality is. The reality is, the cricket has been caught with a serious fever called “t20 cricket” which is absolutely disgusting. It’s fine that ICC is looking forward to this new format but this doesn’t mean that they should forget about the oldest format of this game i.e. test cricket.

Players say that test cricket is the best form of cricket and it must not end soon, it should go on for at least another 100 years, I completely agree but does ICC agree too? What ICC is doing is, playing with this format. I’ve heard some ridiculous ideas recently about changing test cricket and if I am to be very blunt here, I haven’t liked any of the ideas at all. Is test cricket really same as before? Is ICC doing enough to save this ?precious? format? These are the million dollar questions, they indeed are.

Ideas given by Sachin and various other players to improve ODI cricket is still understandable. It’s a limited over format and what they are suggesting is, make each team bat twice which means making them play 25 overs at once and then the next team plays their first 25 overs. I like this idea but as far as test cricket is concern, we cannot play with the overs. Just changing this 5 day format to a 4 day format or lesser won?t work! According to me, in test cricket what we need to have is, good pitches, even pitches (favoring both bat and ball), favoring both batsmen and bowlers. In this way, test cricket will get more interesting to see, from fan?s perspective.

Take example of the recent test match between South Africa and Australia (1st test), who would have got bored watching this test match? Not me sir, no – not me. I watched most of the test match and I didn’t get bored at all. I’m a young cricket fan and what I still want is, interesting test matches and I?m sure few other young members of this site will be fan of test cricket too. I’d admit that I like t20 cricket as well but test cricket is just something special.

Let’s go back a few years. Go back to the era when West Indies bowlers and Australian bowlers were a delight to watch i.e. 1970′s and 1980′s. At that time, watching bowlers bowl was never boring. In fact, that was a time when people used to go to the stadiums to watch bowlers like Holding, Marshall, Lillee, Thomson and several other bowlers bowl. I have obviously not witnessed them bowl in their times but I’ve watched quite a few video clips (thanks to Rob, you must take a look at his channel on Youtube, worth a look). It would be fair to say, that making runs against those bowlers took some making.

I’ve seen people arguing in India, those who watched Gavaskar play, that Gavaskar is still the best and Tendulkar not. Why is that so? Because people in India, who watched Gavaskar play against those big West Indian fast bowlers without wearing any helmet or being protected to the best, like nowadays, was something very special. Just imagine how Gavaskar would have went to the pitch, knowing that the West Indies bowlers or even the Australia bowlers (like Thomson and Lille and others) will be aiming to either injure him with their lethal bowling or simply get him out. In this mind set, Gavaskar went to the pitch and not only protected himself from getting injured but made 34 great centuries. This is simply something that is done by legends and just legends. Not taking anything away from Tendulkar, I’m one of his biggest fans but I’m just pointing out that how hard it was to make runs in 1970′s and 1980′s.

It isn’t like it’s very easy to make runs nowadays but I’m sure we all would agree that nowadays there aren’t enough fast bowlers when compared to fast bowlers of 1970′s and 1980′s and the pitches, are just being made to favor the batsmen and bowlers are suffering due to this.

In the last 5 years, how many occasions have there been where a pitch has been prepared to support both batsmen and bowlers? Not many occasions, surely. Do the bowlers ever complain when they are being smashed all around the ground, even though they are putting their best of the efforts to bowl the batsmen out but the pitch doesn?t support. Just imagine how good a bowler?s temperament needs to be these days to take wickets.

In which country do we enjoy watching cricket the most? For me, it?s undoubtedly England. The reason is simple; in England the pitches are supportive for both ? batsmen and bowlers. Sub continent pitches can obviously not be prepared like England pitches but what sub continent curators can do is ? make sure that they leave some grass on the pitch and make sure that the bounce is good which will make sure that the bowlers too get some purchase from the pitch. Preparing a dry pitch supporting just batsmen is going to do no good to this purest form of the game.

Have we ever heard a fast bowler saying that ?I enjoy bowling in sub continent?. Sounds funny doesn?t it? It obviously will sound funny because the pitches prepared in sub continent are just for batsmen and not for bowlers. What can bowlers really do? In limited overs format, a bowler somehow manages to take some wickets, batsmen try to be aggressive play their shots (in limited overs that is) and bowlers get benefited from this as they have a chance of taking wickets but in test matches, batsmen look to take their time and look to play big innings. In test matches, bowlers need to take 20 wickets in a match to win the match for their team but how can they take 20 wickets when the pitch isn?t supportive? Curators in sub continent need to understand this and once they do, we will witness good test matches being played in sub continent.

It isn?t boring to watch matches in Australia and New Zealand, that?s because the pitches provide good bounce for the bowlers and this helps the bowlers. In South Africa, as we saw in the first test between South Africa and Australia or even in the second test, the pitches can be very supportive for the bowlers and as I mentioned earlier, in England the pitches are excellent for bowlers. In West Indies, the pitches can be very flat at times but there is good amount of bounce on offer and some swing as well at times. Basically, the whole point is, the pitches are the only way test matches can be improved. Doing changes to the format, will do no good! What does rest of you think? I feel this is a topic on which there could be an interesting debate taking place. Test cricket, as we all will agree, is the purest form of cricket and there needs to be a step taken to make it popular among the fans, again.

This is my first article. I have done my best to write all the necessary stuff and I hope the article will interest you all, the topic too. Suggestions are welcomed.

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[swacker]

Test cricket, as we are often told, is dying. Have to say though watching the test cricket then was particularly boring - run rates will be very low for every teams, and the number of bouncers just got way out of hand. You'd watch a game in respect but wouldn't really enjoy it. The face of cricket has changed markedly in the last 10 years - to some people in a form they chose no longer to recognise such is the polarity of the situation.

The way everyone who faced talks about test suggests that whatever had out in the late 70's and 80's it was pretty fearsome!

 

[Aditya]

Everyone has different views, some people like seeing batsmen taking their time at the pitch and making runs, some on other hand, want the batsmen to play their normal game and hit the bad balls away, be aggressive. Two England batsmen are perfect examples to describe this situations. Trott is someone who likes to take his time at the pitch and make runs. KP though on other hand, looks to be aggressive from the bowl one. A typical test lover, who loves to see the game being played like the old days, would love to see Trott play but someone who likes test cricket but also likes to see the players be aggressive, do like to see KP bat.

I kind of agree with the bouncer thing. If you have watched the movie "Fire in Babylon", the West Indian bowlers defend that bowling bouncers wasn't wrong. They were defending themselves by saying that, when Australians did it, no one complained but when West Indians started doing it (bowling bouncers), everyone started to complain and said that West Indies bowlers are doing no good to this "gentlemen's game". I don't know who is right, as I didn't witness these two teams bowl. There is just too much to discuss on test cricket.

 

[swacker]

I just think it will be played between fewer countries. This is more of a threat to it becoming extinct then the actual format of the game itself. I often wonder how kids listen to the music. I can't listen to one song on the radio anybody. But perhaps guys like you and me aren't the target market anymore. But the reality is that T20 is the future. I'm sure 50 over cricket was a stunt when it first started, so let's just see what eventuates with this T20 phenomenen. I say not just Test cricket, people will even lose attention in ODIs. They will just stick with T20 which is entertainment and not sport.

Garner Marshall was pretty awesome, especially when you consider Holding was first change and Walsh came on after him. Holding and Andy Roberts was also incredible and add Colin Croft, the list of bowlers the WI had in those days was incredible. Wasim and Waqar were pretty devastating because of the reverse swing and their yorkers meant that pitch conditions were less of a factor. I can remember watching and there was always the capacity for a massive collapse even if you thought things were going well.

Apologies for taking this massively off topic by the way.

 

[Aditya]

All your points are valid and related to the topic. We're discussing about test cricket, so your points do make sense.

Just so you know, I'm 14, so I like today's music.

 

[1iram1]

Brilliant article for a 14 year old. I'm almost 16 and I don't think I can write that well. Subcontinent pitches do need to be better though. Didn't the Pakistan wickets offer some help for the seamers?

 

[Aditya]

Cheers for the appreciation mate. I do think Pakistan wickets used to offer some swing for the bowlers but like other countries in sub continent (India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) the Pakistan pitches too can't be called "ideal" for bowlers. It's very sad that Pakistan hasn't got to host many test matches in the last 5 years. This is the main reason I wasn't able to write about pitches in Pakistan.

 

[RPHKR]

Test cricket is smooth, The players should prefer test matches rather than T20s.
Cricket is turned from talent to money. T20s earn more money than tests.
The players nowadays doesn't stay at international games at all, they just play good at T20s and gets chance to play in longer formats but doesn't save their position. Even experienced players prefer T20s more than test cricket these days, all changed because of money.

 

[Varun]

Nice article, Adi.

I haven't really followed test cricket visually for a while now, just checking out the scores now and then and all that stuff. I agree, but only incompletely, with you. Test cricket certainly will improve and attract more fans if the pitches are made even, especially in India, but this will certainly not entice a large number of fans, only those who still have a feeling of 'loving the game' rather than just cold entertainment, and I can guarantee the number will still be comparatively lower than the IPL. Cricket had developed before the Industrial revolution days, during which people had a lot of leisure time to pursue their amateur interests in sports and thus cricket developed as a long-length game, while the post-Industrial revolution sports like football, basketball and other short length games developed due to a drastic decrease in the leisure hours. Surprisingly this didn't affect cricket for long, but now it is, and it will. A large number of people, owing to their busy life, don't even want to get involved with the longer formats, and those who still do don't have the time, and all they can care for is entertainment on a Sunday night, perhaps for an hour or two, and thus the popularity of T20 cricket.

There is a dilemma here. It is very difficult to restore the game's popularity back to it was: we can bring back only a few supporters and lovers of the format no matter what we do. It's alright, in my view, until we get to relish the game. But then, the players today are more concerned about their fan-following and the huge chunks of cash cricket has to offer to them, and of course, with Test cricket's popularity plummeting, and shorter formats' rising, many sponsors will find it prudent to invest in IPLs, CLT20s and the sundry only. At one side there's 'the cricket', another side there's reality.

 

[swacker]

Class bowling on a very fair pitch - love to see this in Test cricket, rather than the roads we see most of the time.

 

[Varun]

And perhaps T20 will not stand there for long as well, I have witnessed how people, especially the youngsters, are becoming more concerned with others sports like football, etc. I have felt that following these sports can be more than attributed to the fact that in India, there is a general opinion about cricket being an 'old sport', and football, basketball etc. being symbols of modernity, and symbols of 'coolness'. Might have to do with the obsession we have with the western world. Personally I have nothing against these sports. In fact, I like basketball quite well enough. I am just expressing what general vibes I have been getting.

 

[Aditya]

Excellent point there, Varun. I completely agree that people these days don't have time to watch test cricket. My point here is, people who still care about test cricket and do watch it on holidays (saturdays or sundays) would love to see an even contest between bat and ball. This doesn't happen on Indian pitches and hence what we usually experience is, test matches like the current one taking place in Mumbai. XYZ team making 500, another team making a big score as well and the test ends in a boring draw. To avoid this for the sake of people who still care about this format, preparing pitches that support bowlers might help the cause. The article doesn't only focus on test cricket but also on how the pitches are being prepared this days, which is a different point altogether. Even in limited overs cricket, preparing even pitches will gain more interest.

 

[Varun]

Yeah, I understand it. In fact I had mentioned that such improvements will attract certain fans. Just felt like giving my two cents on the topic, as even I am one of those who don't get the time to enjoy the game due to dearth of time.

 

[swacker]

The usual texts from people who only ever text around who normally admit they hate cricket because it's boring! We had our time in the sun and I am sure some of them here at the time were cocks about it, so there may be some payback going on. It's all fun games and nothing lasts forever.

And perhaps T20 will not stand there for long as well, I have witnessed how people, especially the youngsters, are becoming more concerned with others sports like football, etc.

Apparently they are identifying players with potential and trying to push them through into state squads, maybe in response to what is happening in other sports and the loss of potential talent from cricket, and now this trend has gone to the t20 side.

Subcontinent pitches do need to be better though.

You don't need to bowl express in England to take wickets. Swing's the thing to take wickets in English conditions. To then take that quality of swing and produce it's in Subcontinent is an exceptional effort - because I can't recall an English attack in my living memory that did as consistently as this English XI has done. The conditions in Subcontinent just aren't encouraging, to swing bowling - hence the reason they have had more express-pace bowlers, because when the ball isn't swinging you need to have that extra zip to get batsmen out, because on that pitch you have to be fuller than any other test ground to take wickets.

There is real quality in the English pitches from top to bottom, as distinct from some previous tours. The ball will be 'catching' off the pitch. I think day 3 will be the best for batting and thereafter the pitch will fade and be spin friendly. I suspect this one will end in a close draw with rain on all days at some time.