The condition of the SSC and the bleak future of test cricket

[Manny_Pacquiao]

isn't this pitch just an absolute disgrace. it's clear to me that in order to improve paki-lanka relations in the aftermath of the lahore attacks, the two governments - in a gesture of friendship - agreed on allowing lanka to import a strip of tarmac from the osama bin laden international airport in faisalabad. this strip of tarmac has been used to make the pitch at the shivsena sports club (SSC) in colombo. i can imagine that putting the heavy roller on this thing would only serve to make it even flatter. as india attempt to overhaul sri lanka's small and unconvincing total of 642 i cant help but think about the future of test cricket, and particularly the future of bowling. who would want to be a bowler on wickets like these. sri lanka won matches here because muralidharan had the freakish ability to turn the ball on gravel but other spinners won't have that ability. they also wont have the excuse of a physical deformity, even if they manage to copy the action. tony grieg was also talking about this, saying that groundsmen needed to leave more grass on the pitch. but at the end of the day its all about making money, and the thing that counts most is the number of times you get to see yuvraj singh selling you some bullshit product that you dont need. test cricket has officially sold out to $$$ and is dying a slow death because of it. i doubt teams would be able to prepare sporting wickets even if they wanted to. and that is sad. the end :--D

[King Tendulkar]

More doom and gloom on this site. Posters are predicting the end of indian team and now the end of test cricket itself. Funny write up though:two_thumbs_up:

[Texy]

absolutely disgusting pitch.....driving Test cricket audience away little by little everyday a Big middle finger to SriLankan Cricket Board I hope Indians keep batting and score over 700 runs...just to say fk you to the FTBs

[Mr. Wicket]

this whole series seems to be an attempt to shoot test cricket in the foot and kill it even quicker. bore the few remaining test fans to death with pathetic, insipid pitches where Samaraweera and Flatbedathana can rack up tons effortlessly at 3.5 an over, and the only question is seeing how many batting records get broken. after that, some people may actually find the t20 nonsense more appealing and join the band of idiots to watch the IPL. keep this sort of cricket up, and the number of active test watchers can continue dropping, making it easier for the game to dumbify itself and find even lower common denominators to reach to. i'll go and watch the Yankees instead. still hate their guts, but now with grudging admiration and respekt. (meanwhile, what are the odds that our tests v. the new zealanders will be on equally slow and pathetic surfaces, so that an opposition that would have been thrashed in 4 days back in the 90s or even early 2000s will end up likely drawing one or two tests on slow pattas?)

[saneindian]

Having produced so many dead tracks in recent home tests( especially at non regular test match venues) ourselves, we shouldn't be pointing fingers at others.

[Manny_Pacquiao]

More doom and gloom on this site. Posters are predicting the end of indian team and now the end of test cricket itself.

in a few minutes i will predict the end of the world as per mayan prophecy. we will all be dead by 2012. hopefully india will still be ranked number 1 then, so future alien generations can remember that india had the best cricket team before the world collapsed

[Mr. Wicket]

what makes you think the mayans knew what they were doing? couldn't even predict the end of their civilization and empire. they're gonna predict it for the rest of the world now? meanwhile, can we draw our way to the #1 spot?

[Manny_Pacquiao]

(meanwhile' date=' what are the odds that our tests v. the new zealanders will be on equally slow and pathetic surfaces, so that an opposition that would have been thrashed in 4 days back in the 90s or even early 2000s will end up likely drawing one or two tests on slow pattas?)[/quote'] i like the odds. we will see electrifying test cricket like this http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/current/match/64047.html

[Andy]

absolutely disgusting pitch.....driving Test cricket audience away little by little everyday a Big middle finger to SriLankan Cricket Board I hope Indians keep batting and score over 700 runs...just to say fk you to the FTBs

And Fk you Lanka.:two_thumbs_up:

[Manny_Pacquiao]

what makes you think the mayans knew what they were doing? couldn't even predict the end of their civilization and empire. they're gonna predict it for the rest of the world now? meanwhile, can we draw our way to the #1 spot?

third time's the charm, they are due a good performance. just like our indian cricket team in this series B->

[Mr. Wicket]

dear god. i did not need to be reminded of that game or series. i can't believe i actually watched 1/3rd of that test as well.

third time's the charm' date=' they are due a good performance. just like our indian cricket team in this series B->[/quote'] if third time was the charm, we'd have won a ****ing toss some time recently.

[Andy]

I am a big fan of Test cricket. Prefer watching Tests more than Odis, Leave alone tontee tontee. Even i have not taken any interest in this series. Really a boring one. Its only fun to watch as long as Viru is bating. After Viru goes i realy dont see any reason for watching this match given the same story continue as in the first two days.

[Laaloo]

(meanwhile, what are the odds that our tests v. the new zealanders will be on equally slow and pathetic surfaces, so that an opposition that would have been thrashed in 4 days back in the 90s or even early 2000s will end up likely drawing one or two tests on slow pattas?)

Yup. The pitch at Ahmedabad is not even slow. It's a freaking Flatbed. The ******* curator does not know how to make a damn pitch. The other two venues (Mumbai and Kanpur) should produce a result, though.

[Mr. Wicket]

lessee. kanpur after all did host one of the most phenomenally boring games ever witnessed. http://www.cricinfo.com/india/engine/match/64109.html andrew hall's innings made the richardson/styris partnership from the above game look like a highlight reel of A-Rod's homers.

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[Mr. Wicket]

someone tell vortex that the 5 bowler approach didn't help us in that one :D

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[yoda]

not the first time test cricket has been paid on flat tracks and won't be the last time.

[achilles]

I hope some journalist asks Sanga - "Sir, you were complaining about rankings and how your team is so great and India doesn't deserve to be No. 1. Why did you have to resort to shady methods like preparing an F1 track, to ruin a competitive series? Don't you think your role in this entire situation is hypocritical?"

[Andy]

I hope some journalist asks Sanga - "Sir, you were complaining about rankings and how your team is so great and India doesn't deserve to be No. 1. Why did you have to resort to shady methods like preparing an F1 track, to ruin a competitive series? Don't you think your role in this entire situation is hypocritical?"

No journalist has got the balls these days to do so. Most of them are Incompetent.