What makes a good test pitch?

[indiaholic]

FWIW, I think every study says that moisture has no impact on swing whatsoever.

 

[Howe_zat]

Moisture in the deck would, generally speaking, correlate with moisture in the air though, no? Dustbowls rarely occur with heavy cloud cover (excluding fungal infections), and greentops aren't often associated with days rocking 40 degree heat and 0% humidity (unless a curator loses his marbles and puts the sprinkler in the wrong place).

Well yeah. But I thought we were talking causation not correlation.

Grass gives off moisture through transpiration. The greater the grass cover, the greater the moisture in the area above the pitch.

That's interesting, good point

 

[indiaholic]

Unless it's a garden of a pitch, I don't see grass cover being extensive or thick enough to cause this.

I think it's more to do with what Dan said and the fact that a greenish surface would protect the shine of the new ball way more than a typical SC pitch.

Agreed. But that doesn't explain why the ball seems to swing more, not just longer.

 

[Daemon]

Don't forget how the ball swings even after passing the bat in England

 

[indiaholic]

The swinging ball follows a parabolic flight path which means that the deviation is proportional to the square of the time in the air. Because of this, most of the deflection will be 'late'.

 

[Jono]

One that is different from the previous test match held in another country.

 

[indiaholic]

One that is different from the previous test match held in another country.

Directed at me? Didn't get it.

Got it. Lol I can be dense. Ignore.

 

[Furball]

What would people make of it if you went to a ground and the pitch was vastly different in character to normal, offered a lot to the bowlers and saw a result within 3 days where only 3 batsmen passed 50 and teams were only making 200 odd in an innings?

 

[cnerd123]

What would people make of it if you went to a ground and the pitch was vastly different in character to normal, offered a lot to the bowlers and saw a result within 3 days where only 3 batsmen passed 50 and teams were only making 200 odd in an innings?

Depends...is this match being played in India or in Australia?

 

[Lillian Thomson]

The swinging ball has more to do with a bottle opener or dirt in the pocket.

 

[Black_Warrior]

Even the Indian commentators are waaahing about the Mohali and Nagpur pitches tho, which is annoying. Bhogle wrote an entire article bitching about it. Urgh. Double standards.

To be honest, Bhogle and Star Sports team were whining even during the NZ 2002 series. So now at least they're consistent.

 

[Black_Warrior]

With regards to A, I guess it's more a tradition thing. Whether it's because I'm English or whatever, I always think of the early days being more seam reliant and your spinner is there to contain, and then second dig you want your spinner to do a job. I'm not arsed at all about pitches like Nagpur but I think that's how a lot if people see it, hence why j don't think it's a double standard.

Yeah that's what the traditional viewpoint is and I totally understand and enjoy cricket like that. But here's the thing. Suppose the home team only has poor Ishant as a seamer up against Anderson and Broad in the opposition. Why is it obligated to prepare a track that offers help to seamers on Day 1 instead of utilising it's strength in spinners or at the very least, countering the oppositions's strength?

This is not necessarily directed at you, but this is the conversation that is not happening when people talk about the traditional pitch.

 

[Black_Warrior]

Depends...is this match being played in India or in Australia?

Bangladesh

 

[Gob]

A seamy road

 

[Burgey]

Just a pitch which provides a contest between bat and ball over the length of the game. Ideally there would be some differences in the pitches across a series, which we don't get to see as much here these days because of drop ins, and also because of the drought we had from about 2000-2008 which basically dried the whole country out for a decade and made everything lifeless. I don't think it's beneficial in the long term for the development of any country's cricketers if they are served up the same types of decks all over the place. I think that's a real reason our batsmen struggle when the ball moves/ turns. They're a product of their environment.

 

[jonbrooks]

A good test pitch is one that has something for all the players. Here is what I feel is a good test pitch:

Day 1 - above average seam movement, testing times for top order batsmen
Day 2 - average seam movement
Day 3 - best day for batting. All the grass has died off. Pitch starting to show some signs of wear
Day 4 - spinners start coming into play
Day 5 - extra assistance for spinners as pitch deteriorates. Testing time batsmen as they mount a 4th innings chase

 

[Black_Warrior]

Yeah this has been the most common and popular definition of a good test pitch. But as I said earlier, what if the home team does not have good seamers and their opposition do, are they still obligated to produce this pitch? Surely a 'good test' pitch should change according to physical and geographical factors plus the strengths and weaknesses of the home teams.

 

[cnerd123]

Its still a good pitch if it turns from day 1. I see no reason why it shouldn't be.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Yep. Not as if that wasn't discussed either.

 

[Bahnz]

The reason why IMO a pitch spinning from ball 1 is generally not a good pitch, is for the primary reason that dry spinning pitches break up and get harder to bat on the longer they're in the sun. That hands a big advantage to the team that wins the toss and bats first. That's why the gold standard for pitches is movement on day 1, good for batting on days 2 and 3, and spin from day 4 onwards - not only does it bring a variety of skills into play over the course of a match, it also helps to even out the advantage offered by winning the toss.

Oh, and before ***** unleashes a tsunami of hatred on me, I'm in no way saying that winning the toss is the reason why India are 2-0 up.