Suggestions to improve Indian cricket and the need to plan for year 2015

[Fontaine]

The basic problem is that younger players tend to struggle abroad in places where the conditions are vastly different than in India. Pace/Bounce/Swing will trouble any young batsmen, not just Indian batsmen. So, to ensure younger players have developed the correct technique/temperament it's necessary to have pitches in India in domestic cricket that do provide that kind of pace/bounce. There is absolutely no excuses. In the recently finished IPL, we all saw pitches that had a great deal of pace and bounce and green tops that helped the seamers. Ishant Sharma looked awesome at times bowling in those conditions. So how did the IPL get those kinds of pitches? - The franchises had curators come in from abroad (Australia/SA) that prepared those tracks. So why can't the BCCI do the same thing (bring in consultants/curators from abroad for domestic cricket)? - Well, who the hell knows. Maybe it's a money issue, maybe it's something else. What I do know is that if the IPL can get those kinds of pitches then there's no valid reason why we can't have the same for domestic cricket. So how will bounce/pace/seaming tracks help our younger players? - Simple. If the BCCI can ensure these kinds of tracks, then at least for the first few sessions we can get genuine pace/bounce where a batsmen's worth will be found out. Then as the heat/sun take their toll, stop covering the track, over rolling it so that in the final few sessions spin bowling becomes a major factor. This way your not only finding out what batsmen can do (which would naturally help the selectors but also prepare the batsmen for English/SA/Aussi condtions). This would also help seperate the bowlers that can do well in these conditions consistently and give a reason for pace bowlers to work on their skills and bowl faster when the conditions help. So, if it's that simple why hasn't it been done already? - Again, who the hell knows? After the Carribean WC disaster when we got knocked out by Bangla boys the BCCI carried out a full investigation and set of recommendations. Remember that? One of the big recommendations was to prepare more sporting tracks instead of dead flat tracks. That was in a full report recommendation from the BCCI itself. That was years ago. Here, read it for yourself and weep:

Every Association will be directed to prepare fast and lively wickets for domestic tournaments.

http://www.rediff.com/wc2007/2007/apr/07dravid.htm So why has this not been done? This report was from 2007? - Again, only the BCCI can answer that. My personal opinion is that the BCCI follow an appeasement route. If there's enough media/public outcry then they'll do something to appear to be working on the issue and try and appease the fans. Then when the issue is forgotten about they go back to working as hard as possible to generate more revenue. The BCCI literally, were ready to take on ALL of the other cricketing boards in the world during the ICL vs IPL issue where they pretty were ordering other boards not to support the ICL, allow their players to play in the ICL and so on. The BCCI went through months and months of effort, lawsuits, meetings and conferences to try and destroy the ICL just to make the IPL as profiteable as posssible. Do we see the BCCI give half as much effort in following through the self made recommendations for sporting tracks? For proper fitness/nutritional coaching? Bowling coaches? I think we all know the answer to that one. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * To be fair, there have been a few/some cases where pitches have been more sporting but on the whole it's nowhere near where it needs to be. ** People have suggested foreign A class tours etc. That has already been done and we do have regular A class tours but a few matches here and there abroad isn't enough. Indian players shouldn't need to go abroad to learn the basic necessities/skills. If the IPL has taught us anything it's that the expertise/knowledge can be brought to India, IF the BCCI is committed enough.

[Fontaine]

In other words: Our Domestic Cricket needs to be about survival of the fittest! - Not survival of the fattest - Not survival of the flattest (as in flat track bullies) - Not survival of the flashiest

[fineleg]

In other words: Our Domestic Cricket needs to be about survival of the fittest! - Not survival of the fattest - Not survival of the flattest (as in flat track bullies) - Not survival of the flashiest

Agreed, dudes like Manish Pandey need to be forced to work on their technique, and not be allowed to cowlash a 50+