PCB plans 90 'bouncy' pitches by October

[King]

In its efforts to do better on foreign tours regularly, Pakistan Cricket Board has decided to provide challenging surfaces to its batsmen at home by laying as many as 90 bouncy pitches across the country by October this year. More... KARACHI, Jun 4: In its efforts to do better on foreign tours regularly, Pakistan Cricket Board has decided to provide challenging surfaces to its batsmen at home by laying as many as 90 bouncy pitches across the country by October this year. A PCB official said the project was aimed at preparing batsmen, who have been unable to give their best on bouncy surfaces in places like South Africa and Australia. "One of the key problems we have identified in our (national) team is our batsmen's inability to give their best on bouncy surfaces in places like South Africa, Australia or even England," said PCB's Chief Operating Officer Shafqat Hussain Naghmi. "We should have 90 bouncy pitches in our country by September or October this year," he was quoted as saying by 'The News'. He said none of the grounds selected was a Test venue and the new wickets would be laid in cities like Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Sheikhupura, Faisalabad and Quetta. "We are sure that with the help of these new wickets, our batsmen would be better prepared for foreign tours in the future." "We cannot expect our team to overtake sides like Australia or South Africa unless our players start doing well on foreign tours on a regular basis." Naghmi also said the PCB was pondering over a novel idea to keep a check on whether the ground staff at the cricket venues was performing its duties properly. "I have this plan of installing cameras at our different venues all over the country," he said.

[King]

Not bad. It's a good initiative but no point in just doing it in domestic cricket. They have to have these pitches available when they play international touring sides. I've seen the tracks dished out by Pakistan against India and West Indies last year. They were some of "THE" flattest tracks ever seen. Guys like Afridi rule on those pitches and are thought of as openers. When they head outside the true colours show.

Naghmi also said the PCB was pondering over a novel idea to keep a check on whether the ground staff at the cricket venues was performing its duties properly. "I have this plan of installing cameras at our different venues all over the country," he said.

That is so mean. How about cameras in PCB office to see if the PCB officials are doing their job?

[Bumper]

Bouncy pitches = More highways :-)

[Inside_edge]

hmm...what a turn around from the moors they dish out for India. Those who have none usually start with a small #, one would expect..

[King]

Yup 90 sounds mind boggling :omg_smile:

[MundaPakistani]

hmm we'll see how it goes because i remember on IND's last tour of PAK we were told to expect bouncy pitches yet the wickets for the 1st 2 tests were about as flat as they can get.

[Ram]

hmm we'll see how it goes because i remember on IND's last tour of PAK we were told to expect bouncy pitches yet the wickets for the 1st 2 tests were about as flat as they can get.

I clearly remember how there was so much hype over the pakistani pace attack being superior to India's and this would give them an advantage. Ultimately , India's swing bowlers ( Balaji. Pathan etc ) were the ones who performed well. And wrt to laying of 90 bouncy pitches, I dont think this is quite going to work. The bouncy nature of a pitch is due to the combination of soil of the pitch and the surounding environmental conditions. Even if PCB were to lay soil with a hard underneath surface, it wont produce the same result because the surrounding conditions which are different will make the pitch behave in a different way.

[MundaPakistani]

And wrt to laying of 90 bouncy pitches, I dont think this is quite going to work. The bouncy nature of a pitch is due to the combination of soil of the pitch and the surounding environmental conditions. Even if PCB were to lay soil with a hard underneath surface, it wont produce the same result because the surrounding conditions which are different will make the pitch behave in a different way.

When PAK played SA at Chandigarh the pitch was as bouncy as you would see at Perth or Pretoria so if they can make such a pitch at Chandigarh then they can surely make a similar one at Lahore.

[dial_100]

I agree MP...with the money they make, they should be able to maintain those pitches. Chandigarh pitch was a very good example. I hope it goes well when they actually do thework....we plan the best in the world,,,##$@-up when we implement those...

[Ram]

There has been a lot of hype in India too about this. I am yet to see any concrete result.

[King]

It is not like they can't produce pitches for bowlers but the pressure from the captain and coach is way too much. Remember the big fella (can't remember his name) vs Inzi in the 2004 India v Pak series. Inzi wanted flat tracks while (his name was Wilkinson was it) the curator produced pitches that helped the faster bowlers. Again in 2005 Inzi was favouring flat tracks too. A lot of batters ask for flat tracks. I know few Indian batters would like flat tracks. There is too much pressure on the curators to produce flat tracks to help batters. Usually they end up making useless pitches due to pressure.

[kablooee87]

It is not like they can't produce pitches for bowlers but the pressure from the captain and coach is way too much. Remember the big fella (can't remember his name) vs Inzi in the 2004 India v Pak series. Inzi wanted flat tracks while (his name was Wilkinson was it) the curator produced pitches that helped the faster bowlers. Again in 2005 Inzi was favouring flat tracks too. A lot of batters ask for flat tracks. I know few Indian batters would like flat tracks. There is too much pressure on the curators to produce flat tracks to help batters. Usually they end up making useless pitches due to pressure.

Inzi had a definite course of action when approaching decisions on pitches for home series'. For the series against India in 2006, I'm certain the plan before the series started was something along the lines of "Let's put a fairly flat track in for the first test and if we come out of that with a win or a draw where we have the upper hand, then we'll see about putting some life in the pitch for the second test. Otherwise, just play out 2 draws and take your chances at Karachi." That's exactly what happened. As soon as we saw the pitch for the second test, it was obvious that Inzamam had no intention of putting forth a concerted effort to win that match. He just wanted to go to Karachi 0-0 and try to pull something off there. That plan almost...almost backfired (thank you Kamran Akmal) or else the whole plan would have blown up in his face. The current news from the PCB is encouraging, provided the follow through with it. I don't agree with a drastic chance in pitches for international matches, the pitches should be put in at domestic level first and players should get ample playing time on them. After that, we can start introducing bouncier tracks in international matches. It's exactly the type of process the PCB (and BCCI for that matter) have trouble with. One that requires some foresight and a lot of patience because the fruits won't bear in the short-term.

[varun]

It is not like they can't produce pitches for bowlers but the pressure from the captain and coach is way too much. Remember the big fella (can't remember his name) vs Inzi in the 2004 India v Pak series. Inzi wanted flat tracks while (his name was Wilkinson was it) the curator produced pitches that helped the faster bowlers. Again in 2005 Inzi was favouring flat tracks too. A lot of batters ask for flat tracks. I know few Indian batters would like flat tracks. There is too much pressure on the curators to produce flat tracks to help batters. Usually they end up making useless pitches due to pressure.

Precisely. I think I mentioned this before. My Dad's bro is called up as an "expert" to help out in making pitches by BCCI and he's prepared some really fast ones in Pune and around Maharashtra which Tendu and Viv have commented on as one of the fastest they've seen. It's not that the curators lack the means to make a fast/seaming/bouncy pitch, it's just that the ppl giving orders lack the will to.

[Holysmoke]

kuch nahin hoyega.. more ft's