Purists have long decried the shorter forms of international cricket as the illegitimate offshoots of test cricket which is still seen as ‘real’ cricket; the sorter versions been seen as pernicious to the test match form of cricket. Now it would seem that there is one more reason why the shorter form may be threatening test cricket; and that is pitch preparation. ICC’s pitch consultant Andy Atkinson has criticised those who have ‘forgotten the art’ of preparing a five day pitch and indicated that the current trend is not good for cricket as a whole.

And it is a fact that now the rules of the ODI cricket as well as T20 cricket and indeed the pitches prepared for these contests tend to favour the batsmen way more than the bowlers. This does need to be rectified and in Atkinson’s view there needs to be a balance created for both bowlers as well as batsmen, which is at this time tipped too much in favour of the batsmen.   

He is of the view that this is in the interests of test cricket as a whole if we are to have more exciting, result oriented matches rather than boring draws. He added that it wasn’t just that pitches should have bounce and pace as against the flat and placid pitches being produced today; but that the pitches should also reflect local characteristics. For instance it is tradition that we should have seaming wickets in England and more spin friendly tracks in India. This is a trend that should be preserved because it adds a unique local flavour to any contest.

Cricket boards and officials connected with international cricket want now, to pander to the spectators who want to see high scoring games. This is the reason that we have in the recent past seen changes in rules that favour batsmen and restrict bowlers. Penalties for wayward bowling are strictly enforced; field restrictions being in place make sure that attacking fields cannot be set to batsmen. Add to this the fact that placid, bland and tame wickets are being prepared that offer no assistance to bowlers making the game dangerously tilted in favour of batsmen. This is a risky trend that will indeed spell the end of test cricket as we know it, if corrective measures are not taken right now!

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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