Used Eden Test pitch will have 'pace and bounce'

[rkt.india]

England will be confronted by another used wicket when the third Test against India starts on Wednesday, according to the Eden Gardens curator, Prabir Mukherjee. India's tactic of utilising a worn track backfired in the second Test in Mumbai. Despite winning the toss, India lost by 10 wickets with the England spin-bowling duo of Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann sharing 19 wickets and out-performing the three-pronged Indian spin attack. While three surfaces have been prepared on the Eden Gardens square, Mukherjee stated that the Test pitch would be the same as that used for the match between Bengal and Gujarat. That match ended on November 20 - barely two weeks before the start of the Test - and foot marks from the bowlers' run-ups are clearly visible. But only 25 wickets fell over the course of the four-day game as the match ended in a draw and Mukherjee insisted the pitch would reward good cricket rather than providing too much assistance to bowlers of a certain type. "Cricket should be played on pitches of true pace and true bounce," Mukherjee said. "Games should be decided by the quality of the player, not the pitch. It should be the way they bowl that matters. It is not about the pitch. "This pitch was used for the Ranji Trophy game against Gujarat. They were 18 for 5 in their second innings but they fought back and the match was drawn. Swann and Panesar will enjoy this pitch. They bowl line and length. The pitch will have good pace and bounce." Reports had suggested that Mukherjee was in dispute with India captain, MS Dhoni over the latter's demand for "a square turner" in Mukherjee's words. But Dhoni will be encouraged by news that a worn pitch will be used as it should assist his spinners and exploit what India believe is England's weakness against high-quality spin bowling. It also suggests that winning the toss will, once again, offer a substantial advantage. Mukherjee laughed off the suggestion that he was unwell as reported by the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) - indeed, he looked in remarkably good health for a man reported to be 83 - and reacted with an ambivalent shrug to the suggestion that the BCCI or CAB were attempting to gag him. "I am at the *** end of my life," he said. "They are threatening to suspend me if I talk about the pitch. That is the treatment I get after more than two decades of service at CAB." England have a modest record at Eden Gardens, where they have not played a Test since 1993. They have only won one Test there - in 1977 - and, of the other eight they have contested at the ground, have lost three of them. Only two England batsmen, Colin Cowdrey in 1964 and Tony Grieg in 1977, have scored Test centuries on the ground and no England fast bowler has taken a five-wicket haul on the ground in a Test since Bob Willis in 1977. No seamer has taken a five-wicket haul in a Test on the ground since Javagal Srinath in 1999. Steven Finn did not bowl in training on Sunday. The England management insisted Finn, who was in action more recently than his seam bowling colleagues in the Test squad due to his participation in the England Performance Programme match, was being rested in line with his workloads plans and was not suffering from an injury. He will bowl in training on Monday before a decision is taken over his involvement in the third Test.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-england-2012/content/current/story/594710.html

[Lord]

lol what a troll

[vamos_rafa]

I hope we win it and Dhoni still says, it was an ugly wicket.

[Crookbond]

Here's the line which caught my eye

"This pitch was used for the Ranji Trophy game against Gujarat. They were 18 for 5 in their second innings but they fought back and the match was drawn. Swann and Panesar will enjoy this pitch. They bowl line and length. The pitch will have good pace and bounce."

I respect his service for CAB over 2 decades but Mr. Mukherjee should be rapped up for this comment itself. I don't care about what sh!t you have with any particular personality but if you are planning to screw up the national team to get your point across you are DONE.

[Needforspeed]

Here's the line which caught my eye I respect his service for CAB over 2 decades but Mr. Mukherjee should be rapped up for this comment itself. I don't care about what sh!t you have with any particular personality but if you are planning to screw up the national team to get your point across you are DONE.

+1 I guess this is the difference between India and others. In other countries groundsmen prepare the pitches to suit their team without even being told while in India they prepare to suit the opposition to satisfy their personal egos. Why is BCCI putting up with this shi*?

[vamos_rafa]

Here's the line which caught my eye I respect his service for CAB over 2 decades but Mr. Mukherjee should be rapped up for this comment itself. I don't care about what sh!t you have with any particular personality but if you are planning to screw up the national team to get your point across you are DONE.

+1

[SLICKR392]

Here's the line which caught my eye I respect his service for CAB over 2 decades but Mr. Mukherjee should be rapped up for this comment itself. I don't care about what sh!t you have with any particular personality but if you are planning to screw up the national team to get your point across you are DONE.

+999999 I don't really care about his pride or any sort of BS, that was an idiotic statement. He is a curator, needs to do what he does best, his job. There have been occasions were boards and captain have asked for certain pitches. Sidhu mentioning Imran Khan asking for a green top. All that the captain asked was for the same pitch that was used in Mumbai and he opens this Pandora's box out of nowhere.

[Gunner]

This guy needs to be sacked.

[vamos_rafa]

+999999 I don't really care about his pride of any sort of BS, that was an idiotic statement. He is a curator, needs to do what he does best, his job. There have been occasions were boards and captain have asked for certain pitches. Sidhu mentioning Imran Khan asking for a green top. All that the captain asked was for the same pitch that was used in Mumbai and he opens this Pandora's box out of nowhere.

There is no pride ya. He's simply having ego problems and mouthing off all such stuffs.

[TheWall]

must have taken some kickback from the visiting team...

[Trichromatic]

must have taken some kickback from the visiting team...

Nah, his pride is enough.

[Sidhoni]

Here's the line which caught my eye I respect his service for CAB over 2 decades but Mr. Mukherjee should be rapped up for this comment itself. I don't care about what sh!t you have with any particular personality but if you are planning to screw up the national team to get your point across you are DONE.

Agreed. This guy has even had problems with Ganguly in the past. Time for BBCI to axe him now.

[Debutant]

Lets actually see the pitch how it plays.

[SLICKR392]

Lets actually see the pitch how it plays.

I won't be surprised if its a green top.

[Crookbond]

+1 I guess this is the difference between India and others. In other countries groundsmen prepare the pitches to suit their team without even being told while in India they prepare to suit the opposition to satisfy their personal egos. Why is BCCI putting up with this shi*?

+1

+999999 I don't really care about his pride or any sort of BS, that was an idiotic statement. He is a curator, needs to do what he does best, his job. There have been occasions were boards and captain have asked for certain pitches. Sidhu mentioning Imran Khan asking for a green top. All that the captain asked was for the same pitch that was used in Mumbai and he opens this Pandora's box out of nowhere.

There is no pride ya. He's simply having ego problems and mouthing off all such stuffs.

Agreed. This guy has even had problems with Ganguly in the past. Time for BBCI to axe him now.

There are two aspects for me - [1] Not preparing a pitch in advantage of the home team [2] Criticizing a player in public AFAIK, MS Dhoni has never criticized or spoken ill of Mr. Mukherkee in public. He criticized the pitch and I'm not sure why it has to be taken personally. BCCI is in full right to ask for a pitch for their convenience - it is not the curator's job to think about it. If he does not like his job, he should discuss that with his employer. This is seriously crossing the line in my books and I only wish that it does not lead up to a Nagpur 2004 farce.

[Trichromatic]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aP8AdhU7[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALdGbMIAlZ0]मुखर्जी बने रहेंगे चीफ पिच क्यूरेटर - YouTube[/ame]

[namasteji1]

If this is true, then England will find difficult to adjust to pace and bounce as they have been playing lots of spin from past 1 month, so it will be good test for India who anyway can't play anything these days. :P

[Trichromatic]

There are two aspects for me - [1] Not preparing a pitch in advantage of the home team [2] Criticizing a player in public AFAIK, MS Dhoni has never criticized or spoken ill of Mr. Mukherkee in public. He criticized the pitch and I'm not sure why it has to be taken personally. BCCI is in full right to ask for a pitch for their convenience - it is not the curator's job to think about it. If he does not like his job, he should discuss that with his employer. This is seriously crossing the line in my books and I only wish that it does not lead up to a Nagpur 2004 farce.

And the guy is talks about morality and ethics. :headshake:

[panther]

England need to bowl first.

[Trichromatic]

England need to bowl first.

England just need to play this test.