The Oval Curator should be murdered.
The ICC have been doing their very best to ensure all test matches are played on the same wicket.
The CEO Brown 5 day edition.
Slowish. Lowish. Great to bat on. Impossible to get wickets on. Stay true till the end. And guaranteed to get 5 days of gate receipts.
Well this Oval pitch breaks several of those rules.
It has life in it. It is breaking apart. It encourages the bowlers at times. It has uneven bounce. It may not last the full 5 days. And it will guarantee a result.
This is bound to get the curator in trouble.
How many wickets has the Pitch claimed so far, is none a fair answer?
Not one wicket from vicious bounce, grubbers, unhuman like movement, or shit pitch characteristics.
Was it a shit pitch when Jonathan Trott made a hundred on it?
Was it a shit pitch when England gave away their wickets and still made over 300 twice?
Was it a shit pitch when Australia made 0/73 and 0/80*?
Give me a break.
Swann and Bell have made half centuries on this supposed minefield.
Warne, Conn, Roebuck and anyone else can jump up and down as much as they want, but it is all bullshit.
Australia getting bowled out for 160 had nothing to do with the pitch, England just doubled that and slogged for half of it.
6 wickets for 395 runs today. Bad Pitch?
The only wickets than can be really attributed to the pitch would be the ones that spun, and they were few and far between.
Strauss hit one out of the footmarks, Cook’s one didn’t spin violently, Broad and Freddie went out slogging, Swann got two that weren’t out, Johnson slashed at a wide one and Katich nicked a straight one.
If you can find a wicket out of the 27 so far that has been from the pitches evil nature I will buy you a lollipop.
England should have made over 500 twice on this, Australia made 160.
As for referred pressure, fuck off. Any batsman who goes out on this pitch because he is worried a ball might do something should learn to bat on uncovered wickets or cut off his hands.
One Comment
Yes, it’s hard to advance a plausible argument that a pitch has been doctored when (a) both sides have to bat on it and (b) who bats first is decided by the toss of a coin with the visiting captain getting the call.
Nonetheless, in relation to the general condition of this one, I noticed clumps of what appeared to be clay sticking to the heavy roller after England’s first innings. I can’t say that I’ve noticed that sort of thing before, although I don’t often get the opportunity of seeing the roller at close quarters.