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

[achilles]

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

These 2 must invite Kumar on their channel and take his case. Kumar crosses the line way too often now and the way I look at it, he's looking like a hypocrite.

[Andy]

These 2 must invite Kumar on their channel and take his case. Kumar crosses the line way too often now and the way I look at it, he's looking like a hypocrite.

Well this guys are more busy with ShivSenas and Srk. :sniffle:

[achilles]

Well this guys are more busy with ShivSenas and Srk. :sniffle:

They should take up the cricket issue. It would help coz they virtually pwn the person on live television.

[Serani]

The 3 primary locations for Tests are England, Sa and Australia. Far greater chance of an interesting match in these countries, then you have factors like better stadiums and crowds in the case of England and Aus in particular.

[The Outsider]

I've made this point on numerous occasions. The biggest reasons for the denigration of pitches in India, and maybe Sri Lanka, has been the constant whining and moaning of the ICC and the visiting teams against turning tracks. The ICC and visiting teams see nothing wrong in flatbeds producing runs by the zillions, but as soon as a match gets over in 3-4 days on a turning pitch these morons jump out from underneath the rocks to start crying about substandard pitches. Given the soil and weather in India, good cricket pitches can be produced only when they are turners. The don't have to start breaking up on the first or second day, but on occasions the groundsman might get it wrong and the pitch might crumble earlier. Cue for the likes of Ponting and Hussain to start whining to the ICC, for Hayden to start spitting on the pitch, and for the ICC to issue a warning to the BCCI and the venue. Why would the groundsman risk his venue being disbarred? So, he obviously chooses the safer option of preparing a shirtfront. Even if there is no result, no one is going to be taking away any matches from the ground in the future. You cannot leave grass on Indian tracks to make them 'sporting'. The grass dries off in a couple of sessions and the pitch does not break even into the 4th and 5th days. The team batting first is screwed and by the time they come on to bowl, the pitch has settled into a patta with no redemption. You cannot just alter the soil and weather conditions to all of a sudden produce 'bouncy' tracks. The experiment has already failed on numerous venues which have been relaid over the past 10 years. Instead of producing bouncy tracks, they have all produced disgraceful pattas like Bangalore. The only way to get good cricket pitches in India is have pitches which are a bit abrasive and are going to start breaking up into the 3rd/4th day. That assures spinners coming into the game big time in the second innings and reverse swing throughout the match. Then there are venues like Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta where you will always get some conventional swing during the course of the match. Sure, the curator will get it wrong at times or there might be unusually hot weather and you might have the odd game finishing in 3 days. But that's way better than the alternative of watching 600 play 600 or hope for the team batting second to succumb under scorecard pressure. India has produced some fine pitches in the past and can still do so, as soon as the moaning and whining stops from ICC and visiting teams like Australia and England.

[Sooda]

vat about this test wicky : http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63762.html we bowled for 271 overs thats 3 full days of bowling what fun :--D

I remembers :woot: Nilesh Kulkarni took a wicket with his first ball Legend. What an attack - Prasad, Kuruvilla, Chauhan and Kulkarni...

[thevortex]

Top post, Outsider. And I agree entirely. Raging turners are just as legal as Green seamers. More than a problem with the ICC, I think it is sad that BCCI and our own players are in sync with the popular view on this.