2nd Test (Edgbaston) - July 2nd

[cascade]

I sort of think the previous summer was more egregious wrt Perth. They at least had the excuse of weather messing with the prep last year but they were lucky that the test against Pakistan didn't go long enough for that variable bounce to become a bigger problem.

I think half of the problem in Perth and Sydney is that they've been trying too hard to recreate historical characteristics of the WACA & SCG pitches. Though the SCG curators gave up on that last summer and managed to make it even worse so they just seem particularly incompetent.

 

[Prince EWS]

Siraj and Akashdeep have been great tbh. 17 wickets on a road decks is kinda amazing

Prasidh and Thakur and co have been diabolical

@Spark

 

[Nintendo]

I think there was a pretty obvious attempt to cook the Perth pitch this time around tbh. But as cascade said, the people there aren't especially good at their jobs so it backfired massively.

God only knows what the SCG lot are going off of.

There was a pitch in that Border Gavaskar that ended up cooked because a previous game had been way too far in the opposite direction of bat vs ball balance, so the groundsmen went too hard the other way and produced a ****-tip. Can't remember if that was perth or a different one.

 

[Starfighter]

I think half of the problem in Perth and Sydney is that they've been trying too hard to recreate historical characteristics of the WACA & SCG pitches. Though the SCG curators gave up on that last summer and managed to make it even worse so they just seem particularly incompetent.

They said last year (or was it the year before?) that they were trying a different type of grass on the SCG pitch. Whatever they're doing they need to stop, they've gone too far from making it too flat to making it full of cracks and inconsistent bounce.

The SCG pitch people were used to from the seventies up until it was relaid around 2003 (?) was easy paced but wore heavily to take turn (especially when Tom Parker scalped it when the West Indie were visiting). From then until the past year or two it's been a highway more reminiscent of Burdett-Era Adelaide than anywhere else.

 

[honestbharani]

I think its pretty obvious all team managements ask (in various degrees and forms) for the kind of pitches they would like to play at and the groundsmen try their best within the constraints of the local weather, soil type at the ground, surface hardness etc. to do this. This goes on to various extents. I dont think there is anyone with any kind of moral high ground here. The point is more about what England want is not even the best for their own team.

I think most home teams in recent past have had their made to order pitches backfire on them. India in that one test we lost in BG in 2023, Aus in the one test they lost in BG in 2024, SL Vs Aus at Galle and so on.

 

[Xix2565]

You are ironically doing the exact same thing you criticise where the standard of "doctoring" is purely based on whether the home team is doing well or not, leading to every possible type of pitch being called "doctored".

You don't have to doctor your pitches for them to suit the home team. They should be better in the conditions simply due to them being used to them as that's what they play on most regularly.

The difference is when you change a pitch's characteristics for a game because you know it will give you the advantage over the other team. E.g.: if we had pumped out flat tracks vs India despite greener wickets being the norm for the past 2-3 years because we wanted to nullify Bumrah's threat. We didn't do that, and he dominated.

Obviously anytime you play around with a pitch to amplify one of your own strengths you risk it backfiring if it also helps out the other team, as England found out here. Over the 2 tests so far, their bowling hasn't been strong enough to capitalise on the benefits a flatter pitch provides their batting. India's bowling surprised many in this test, and England got rissoled as a result. By rights, England probably should be 2-0 down.

They did the same thing in the Ashes there vs us, and then went with different pitches for the last 3 tests. If they had never started ****ing around with the decks, they probably would have beaten us.

My point is that the standards for what's doctored and what's not is rarely about the 'morality'/fairness of having teams/management involved with the curators and more about what type of player is getting the benefits. I wouldn't mind the general pitch curating complaints if it wasn't generally one-sided (across social media, not just here).

Teams should normally be better in familiar conditions, yes, but we also know general skill/talent levels also matter when it comes to performances. Especially when it comes to players like Bumrah, who's also destroyed teams on much more batting friendly conditions, in case people forgot about 2018/19 or 2024.

 

[Son Of Coco]

I think its pretty obvious all team managements ask (in various degrees and forms) for the kind of pitches they would like to play at and the groundsmen try their best within the constraints of the local weather, soil type at the ground, surface hardness etc. to do this. This goes on to various extents. I dont think there is anyone with any kind of moral high ground here. The point is more about what England want is not even the best for their own team.

I think most home teams in recent past have had their made to order pitches backfire on them. India in that one test we lost in BG in 2023, Aus in the one test they lost in BG in 2024, SL Vs Aus at Galle and so on.

Perth?

What was different with that Perth wicket compared to the wickets at that ground that came before it?

 

[Spark]

Perth?

What was different with that Perth wicket compared to the wickets at that ground that came before it?

The curators were pretty open beforehand that they wanted to prepare an extremely difficult pitch for subcontinental batsmen with lots of pace, bounce and movement. They got two of them but not the third, which turned it into like Bumrah's dream deck because of how skiddy it was.

 

[Spark]

I think its pretty obvious all team managements ask (in various degrees and forms) for the kind of pitches they would like to play at and the groundsmen try their best within the constraints of the local weather, soil type at the ground, surface hardness etc. to do this. This goes on to various extents. I dont think there is anyone with any kind of moral high ground here. The point is more about what England want is not even the best for their own team.

I think most home teams in recent past have had their made to order pitches backfire on them. India in that one test we lost in BG in 2023, Aus in the one test they lost in BG in 2024, SL Vs Aus at Galle and so on.

My view is that this sort of thing is actually less common than people think, and that the main imperatives are principally commercial. The main reason we have good MCG Test pitches now is not because Langer asked them to, it's mostly because they were on the verge of getting banned as a Test venue which would have been a financial catastrophe for quite a lot of people. This is probably also why England's current pitches are the way they are; they think that seeing five days of ~Bazball~ will make more money than something more balanced between bat and ball.

 

[Daemon]

lol remember this

 

[Burgey]

It’s mostly rain which has ****ed over the SCG in recent times rather than the deck, though I do think Aus curators in general are pretty **** but get some sort of elevated status for bizarre reasons. And that pitch in particular has sort of gone from one extreme to another in recent times

 

[Burgey]

Siraj and Akashdeep have been great tbh. 17 wickets on a road decks is kinda amazing

Prasidh and Thakur and co have been diabolical

#punish Thakur.

 

[kingkallis]

Resting Bumrah worked really well for India. Now India can unleash Bumrah as a part of a better bowling unit. If Siraj & Akashdeep can do even 60% of what they did at Edgbaston, we can win at least 1 of these 2 games.

 

[CricAddict]

I am excited for the rest of the series with Atkinson Archer Bumrah back while Siraj Deep and Carse are doing well. All batsmen from both sides are doing well too. It is very equally balanced between the two teams and it will all come down to who can handle the key situations better.

 

[Son Of Coco]

The curators were pretty open beforehand that they wanted to prepare an extremely difficult pitch for subcontinental batsmen with lots of pace, bounce and movement. They got two of them but not the third, which turned it into like Bumrah's dream deck because of how skiddy it was.

Was it any different to the talk we get every year about getting back to traditional Perth wickets with pace and bounce though? Something that has proven to be a pipedream for the last 15-20 years.

Their prep was affected by rain too, and the wicket sat under the covers in the days leading up to the test, which probably accounts for the skiddiness.

 

[honestbharani]

Was it any different to the talk we get every year about getting back to traditional Perth wickets with pace and bounce though? Something that has proven to be a pipedream for the last 15-20 years.

Their prep was affected by rain too, and the wicket sat under the covers in the days leading up to the test, which probably accounts for the skiddiness.

Inability to do something does not mean they didn't have the intention to do that thing.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Inability to do something does not mean they didn't have the intention to do that thing.

Nothing in this article suggests they prepared the pitch with India in mind. They mention having the same amount of grass on the pitch as the year before and the pace and bounce you'd expect in Perth (or at least, once upon a time you would).

BGT 2024-25: Perth pitch to have plenty of bounce and carry, says head curator

The tracks in Perth are known to be fiery and assist pace and bounce. The 22-yards is also expected to crack open in dry conditions, known as snake cracks due to its shape, and assist both the seamers...

www.thehansindia.com

 

[honestbharani]

Btw, its so annoying coz everytime we win PL pops up and ruins the good vibes. And everytime we lose, cm and skyblue run riot coz of some agenda they have about GG. I was hoping there would be draws and neither would show up but when there are draws they all show up. Damn.

 

[andruid]

I am excited for the rest of the series with Atkinson Archer Bumrah back while Siraj Deep and Carse are doing well. All batsmen from both sides are doing well too. It is very equally balanced between the two teams and it will all come down to who can handle the key situations better.

You kinda sound like a TV pundit talking up the next live broadcast. But yes, this series is looking to be quite exciting.

 

[honestbharani]

Nothing in this article suggests they prepared the pitch with India in mind. They mention having the same amount of grass on the pitch as the year before and the pace and bounce you'd expect in Perth (or at least, once upon a time you would).

BGT 2024-25: Perth pitch to have plenty of bounce and carry, says head curator

The tracks in Perth are known to be fiery and assist pace and bounce. The 22-yards is also expected to crack open in dry conditions, known as snake cracks due to its shape, and assist both the seamers...

www.thehansindia.com

Yeah but this one does.