The wicked wicket issue

By Rajadhyax

Word from New Zealand is that they tried to make hard, tricky wickets on which the famed Indian batting line-up could struggle, but it did not click for the black caps. On a more accusing note, the South Africans and the Englishmen cried foul about “under prepared wickets” whenever Anil Kumble ripped through their batting order while playing in India. Indians often alleged that Pak local hero Imran Khan would always be provided with a green top in Karachi while Steve Waugh’s Aussie team cringed at the prospect of facing kink-action Murali on a Kandy turner. In all these stories the common feature is a host team trying its best to accord a 22-yard strip in the middle that would support them to avoid the embarrassment of losing at home. And there is no dearth of these stories.

To a mind not formally trained in cricket two questions may arise. Can one really control the character of a wicket to such an extent? Who makes the final call in deciding the nature of the track before crucial encounters? To answer the second question first, the authorisation varies from country to country and even from venue to venue. The local cricket body, the team management and the deceptively hapless looking groundsman are the three focal points of power.

In India the first of those three calls the shots unless a Sourav Ganguly type head strong captain puts his foot down and makes specific demands. In a country like England, the groundsman is the man with the megaphone and he may take suggestions from the team management. Strong willed captains like Clive Lloyd have tended to dictate terms of some venues.

So the power centres may be variable between countries but there is no denying the fact that pitches are monitored to suit the home side.

In reply to the first question the answer is ‘yes’. Pitches can be produced – with a certain degree of confidence – to favour certain cricketing skills. Using tightly binding soil, mowing the grass dry, exposing a brown tinge and making frequent cycles of watering-rolling will usually create a strip good for batting. A green grassy wicket with lose soil beneath is a heaven for quick bowlers as the skiddy surface makes them go faster behind the bat. Keeping the surface abrasive, using clay like soil or keeping the surface under prepared (just skip the rolling a few days) will assist the spinners. Making a bouncy track using hard soil (as they do down-under) can also help the pace bowlers as they will make the batsmen play regularly at an uncomfortable height.

Our local groundsman Kashinath tells me, “it’s not easy to prepare a certain type of surface, but given the time, anything is possible.” And he knows a few things since many Ranji and Test players have played on pitches he prepared. “You need three things,” he adds. “A clear instruction as to what you want the wicket to do; sufficient equipment and manpower to do it and, of course, a lot of time to work on the pitch.” There can be no guarantees in this field but one can get the desired results more often than not.

That leads us to the eternal debate on whether it’s right or wrong to make wickets favourable to the hosting side. Patriotism makes people do many things. When you want your side to win at all costs, cricketing matters take the back seat. Winning and losing becomes more important. That is why it’s been done almost everywhere. According to the rule book of cricket there is nothing wrong in it as long as the wicket is not deemed dangerous by the on-field umpires. Whether it’s ethically sound or not is difficult to decide as the jury is still out on the issue. You may favour the motion if winning matters to you and you feel that everyone does the same. You could oppose the motion if sporting wickets and close contests matter more to you than winning and losing.

At the end of the day differing wickets do add a great challenge for cricketers to excel in all sorts of conditions. To spectators also it’s fascinating to see the Englishmen conquering turning tracks in Lanka or Pakistanis scoring on scorching quick wickets in Australia. And finally, a good cricket side will do well under all sorts of conditions. Amen.