Pitches 'are getting hard to bowl on' - Lee

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Brett Lee, the Australian fast bowler, feels pitches around the world are getting harder for fast bowlers, and wants tracks to have a bit of assistance. More... Lack of assistance for bowlers Pitches 'are getting hard to bowl on' - Lee Cricinfo staff July 31, 2008 Brett Lee has been in the wickets lately, but he wants more assistance from the pitches © Getty Images Brett Lee, the Australian fast bowler, feels pitches around the world are getting harder for fast bowlers and wants tracks to have more assistance. "The wickets these days are getting hard to bowl on," Lee told PTI. "I say it tongue in cheek about there being no pitches in the world conducive to fast bowling. But there are hardly any pitches in the world which are green and juicy and encourage fast bowlers. "I am not asking for a pitch that moves the ball three or four feet both ways but I am talking about giving the bowler a bit of assistance and encouraging young lads to bowl fast." Lee, who has taken 289 wickets in Tests and 303 in ODIs, was in red-hot form in Australia's recent series. He took 53 wickets in his last eight Tests, and was Player of the Series in the Tests against Sri Lanka and India. Recently, Viv Richards rated him as good as the fast bowling greats of the 1980s and the early 90s. "It was a great feeling ... to be praised by somebody like him is certainly special. Those were lovely comments that Viv made and I felt humbled." Lee also took part in the Indian Premier League and was pleased with his stint for the Kings XI Punjab. "The thing that impressed me most was playing in a team made up of a whole lot of cultures," he said. "I think we will have to wait and see what happens on that. However, IPL has been brilliant and I am looking forward to the next season. "Test cricket is my favourite but I like playing Twenty20. It's fast and brings different kinds of people to the game." The Test series between Sri Lanka and India has the umpire review system but Lee said it took away a bit of the game's charm. "I still like the human element there," he said. "I like an umpire's presence, I think it's important to cricket. "It's good for stumping and run outs but I believe the human element should always be there. For leg before decisions, I like the [on-field] umpire to take the call and I think most times they do get it right."

[kablooee87]

It's not just the pitches. For me, the biggest difference is the quality of the bats. There are some who believe that tennis lost a lot of its luster when the technology used in tennis rackets went beyond a certain points, that the gap between players was artificially narrowed by technology when it should have been determined by skill. As a huge fan of modern day tennis, I wholeheartedly disagree. But that sort of thing seems to be happening in cricket. We see more and more mediocre batsman being able to launch balls over the boundary without any real effort. And instead of compensating, they've actually brought the boundaries in! Admittedly, I'm not an expert on bats, but I've seen 2 or 3 quotes from players saying the quality of bats has sky rocketed in just the last few years. And even without those accounts, it's fairly obvious even to a casual viewer. People talked about how desperately flat the pitches were during the Asia cup, and that's a fair gripe. But what really got me was how many "shots" I saw where the ball just kept going and going. Leading edges being caught at long on. Edges (off medium pacers) sailing over the boundary. Seemingly innocuous guides short hopping the rope. It was ridiculous. Yes, the pitches are flat. But let's be honest, they've been flat for quite some time. Maybe the frequency of the patta pitches has increased (especially outside India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) but they were always there.

[kumble_rocks]

Brett lee has a point , Just take WACA Perth ground for example , this used to be one of the finest pitches in the world having pace and bounce for fast bowlers and now it's a flatbed occasionally coming to life like the last time we played there.

[kumble_rocks]

It's not just the pitches. For me, the biggest difference is the quality of the bats.

You got a point here . The technology coupled with small boundaries and flat pitches have enabled batsmen to be far better stroke makers .

[Predator_05]

It's not just the shortened boundaries, the pitches or the incredibly thick (but surprisingly light !) cricket bats. It's the approach of the batsmen which has changed most. I was watching the 1992 WC semi final between SA and ENG - an exciting game, but the rate that the two teams were scoring at was barely on par with the run rate India scored at on day 1 of the Galle Test. Scoring rates have risen dramatically in this decade, and that's probably why we have more results in Test cricket than we ever did in the past. Batsmen are trained to hit big shots and are tailoring their game more to the requirements of limited overs cricket. Never has cricket been a batsman's game more than it is now.

[cowboysfan]

i agree completely but real bowler friendly pitches are dead-nobody wants a test match that is over in 3 days.

[Chaos]

no need to cry, it all happened cuz of aussies themselves!! scoring at 4+ runs per over and what not, revived cricket more!!!

[kablooee87]

It's not just the shortened boundaries' date=' the pitches or the incredibly thick (but surprisingly light !) cricket bats. It's the approach of the batsmen which has changed most. I was watching the 1992 WC semi final between SA and ENG - an exciting game, but the rate that the two teams were scoring at was barely on par with the run rate India scored at on day 1 of the Galle Test. Scoring rates have risen dramatically in this decade, and that's probably why we have more results in Test cricket than we ever did in the past. Batsmen are trained to hit big shots and are tailoring their game more to the requirements of limited overs cricket. Never has cricket been a batsman's game more than it is now.[/quote'] I would argue that the change in approach is in fact a result of all the factors mentioned. When the playing field is tilted in a player's favour, it's only natural for him to push the envelope.

i agree completely but real bowler friendly pitches are dead-nobody wants a test match that is over in 3 days.

We keep hearing about how many quality batsman there are in world cricket. Well they should be able to carry a match 5 days on bowler friendly pitches then!

[kumble_rocks]

It's not just the shortened boundaries' date=' the pitches or the incredibly thick (but surprisingly light !) cricket bats.[b'] It's the approach of the batsmen which has changed most. I was watching the 1992 WC semi final between SA and ENG - an exciting game, but the rate that the two teams were scoring at was barely on par with the run rate India scored at on day 1 of the Galle Test. Scoring rates have risen dramatically in this decade, and that's probably why we have more results in Test cricket than we ever did in the past. Batsmen are trained to hit big shots and are tailoring their game more to the requirements of limited overs cricket. Never has cricket been a batsman's game more than it is now.

True for certain teams , but if you have followed one of the most successful teams in test history - the Windies of the 80's , they had batsmen like Greenidge , Haynes , Richards , Lloyd all stroke players capable of accelerating at will ( Haynes was tad slower though ) . If I have I make an educated guess , I don't think they would be much difference between that line up and the fab 5 of India in terms stroke play .

[MalikBrother]

I agree with Lee, but nothing can be done. Too late for that. I would love to have test series take place in bouncy fast pitch. Would be thriller to watch !

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WACA restoration to its fearsome reputation for pace and bounce, on track Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA) ground curator Cameron Shepherd is confident his five-year plan to restore the WACA's fearsome reputation for pace and bounce is on track, despite expecting a difficult summer ahead. More... WACA restoration on track 4/08/2008 6:15:16 PM Paul Barbieri Sportal Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA) ground curator Cameron Shepherd is confident his five-year plan to restore the WACA's fearsome reputation for pace and bounce is on track, despite expecting a difficult summer ahead. Shepherd said in the last two years, seven of the WACA's 10 pitches had been re-laid, with it usually taking two to three years for these to settle effectively. However, with almost 50 days of cricket planned for the summer ahead, including December's Test match against South Africa, Shepherd said there was plenty of challenges ahead for the WACA's ground staff. "It (the number of matches) makes it obviously tougher on new wickets," said Shepherd, speaking at an annual meeting of curators from across Australia. "You normally allow for two or three years for them (the new pitches) to settle and compact and really bed in." "But obviously with cricket scheduling and that, we haven't got that luxury, so this year's going to be another interesting year or tough-ish year, where we're trying to settle in wickets as well as playing important games on them and that's part of the challenge I suppose of curators." "But, as long as we know where we want to head and what results we want to get down the track. We've put in a five year plan and we're probably two years into it and that plan is ongoing, so that's where we're heading," he said. Shepherd said the plan's ultimate goal was to restore the WACA's reputation for fearsome pace wickets, one's which saw the West Indian fast bowlers tear through the Aussies time and time again during the 1980s. "Certainly, that's the goal to get a more traditional characteristic back into it and we believe we took some really big steps last year, turning it around. But we've just got to continue that progress this year." "We'll probably have our ups and downs but we've just got to know what our ultimate goal is, what we're out to achieve and that's to get that characteristic in it and that's going to take time to do it," Shepherd said. And, the curator also said he was excited to be involved with preparations for the first interstate cricket match to be held outside the WACA ground, when the Warriors take on South Australia in a Ford Ranger Cup clash at Bunbury's Hands Oval, three hours south of Perth. "It'll be a good spectacle (on) Feb 8 and hopefully we're looking at a more festival atmosphere down there in the south west," Shepherd said. "If we can get four or five thousand there to a Ford Ranger ... with marquees and that, then I think it will be really exciting for WA cricket to develop in the regional areas."