Test Cricket Betting: How difficult is it to prepare a fair wicket?

Bat and ball / Paul Moon / 25 January 2010 / Leave a Comment

India captain MS Dhoni inspects the wicket ahead of a Test match

"There will be those who will remind us that Asian countries have the wrong sort of soil and climate to assist bounce and pace but they should be ignored. In the year 2010 preparing a cricket wicket is not beyond mortals. Should that be true, let the ICC ship soil from Perth, Australia and pick up the tab. Without quality playing surfaces, you cannot have quality cricket."

Tired of watching the batsmen pile on the runs on lifeless wickets, Paul Moon lays into the ICC for not ensuring the bowlers are given a fair crack of the whip, specially when Test cricket is played on the sub-continent.

Test cricket is the longest and purest form of the game and considered the ultimate test. The bowler must be able to challenge a batsman - if there is no challenge then there is no test!

The ICC declare that they lead cricket by promoting and protecting the game and its unique spirit - the reality is somewhat different! In recent times many believe they have not done enough to protect Test cricket while others claim they have betrayed it. Of course the game needs revenue but the unhealthy obsession with the dollar and those financial hotshots in India has resulted in the sanctity of the game being neglected.

It is now time the ICC put their energies back into furthering Test cricket. They are many areas that need attention but most importantly the ICC has a solemn duty to exercise its authority regarding the preparation of pitches. A blueprint should be produced with immediate effect, supported by an upgrade of knowledge and resources. It should then be made available to cricket associations and curators paid by revenues courtesy of the IPL.

The understanding must be firm. It should be mandatory that the host nation produces a wicket that helps both bowlers and batsmen. Those not aspiring to producing a surface with requisite elements should be challenged, then given rising penalties for non-compliance. Fines are not the answer but suspending the venue is.

The fascination and beauty of Test cricket are the many variables and its component parts. The inherent mystery of the pitch and its idiosyncrasies are central and key to this magnificent game and it must be given complete primacy. In India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka there is a cultural bias towards preparing benign and flat tracks where they idolise batsmen and disregard bowlers. This must end, preferably by discourse, but it must end.

This will not be easy with people like Javed Miandad (Director General of PCB) in control. He has ordered his curators to prepare wickets that enable high-scoring matches. In turn they will err on the side of safety and make the pitches worthless to a bowler. He justifies his actions by absurdly claiming that you cannot groom a batsman on sub-standard wickets. Of course no one has suggested that you should but surely coming to terms with seam and movement, pace, bounce and spin makes them a better batsman?

Miandad and his kind epitomise the problems and should be diplomatically removed from any decision-making process on the world stage. Thankfully his orders are not applicable at the moment because Pakistan cannot play matches at home.

There will be those who will remind us that Asian countries have the wrong sort of soil and climate to assist bounce and pace but they should be ignored. In the year 2010 preparing a cricket wicket is not beyond mortals. Should that be true, let the ICC ship soil from Perth, Australia and pick up the tab. Without quality playing surfaces, you cannot have quality cricket.

Though it is important to differentiate between pitches prepared for Test cricket and ODIs, I am unconvinced that pitches like Rajkot (India), where they scored 825 runs in a hundred overs is good for the game. Some have suggested we are at an exciting phase in the evolution of cricket and we should accept it, while others are not so sure.

In any case, Test cricket must reclaim its lost ground and the ICC needs to deliver on its promises. Meanwhile a meaningless Test series starts against Bangladesh on 12 March 2010 and a chance for some to artificially inflate batting averages. Betfair prices confirm the forgone conclusion for the Test Series Winner: England [1.19] Bangladesh [7.2] Draw [4.1]. Meanwhile the 1st Test prices show: England [1.35] Bangladesh [7.2] Draw [2.82].