SLICKR392 Posted July 24, 2014 Posted July 24, 2014 'Grass is there but there but it isn't oceans of grass.' Two members of that 2002 team are travelling as commentators; Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly will remember this as a nasty pitch with such uneven bounce that led to rumours that the Indians did not even want to bat the second time around in that tour warm-up. The Indians won that match comfortably, though, bowling Hampshire out despite declaring with a lead of only 252. Nigel Gray, the head groundsman, remembers that pitch all too well, but those were the bedding-down days, only two years into the existence of Hampshire's new home ground. The pitch for the Test, only second in the history of the venue looks green, not as green as Lord's last week, but promises good carry and bounce. It has been an incredibly hot week leading up to the Test so the challenge for Gray and his team has been to retain the moisture. The pitch has been spending most of its time under the hovercraft, and is uncovered only for watering. The pitches for this series have received their fair bit of attention after Trent Bridge proved to be slow and low and Lord's brought the home team a loss even after they got their ideal seaming conditions and the first use of the surface. Trent Bridge even earned a poor rating from the match referee David Boon. If Trent Bridge and Lord's are two ends of a scale, Gray believes his pitch is somewhere in the middle but leaning towards Lord's. "It will be a pretty good pitch," Gray said. "It has a bit of grass on it and will have good pace and bounce. A good international pitch. Grass is there but there but it isn't oceans of grass." Gray is not too much into lengths of grass, but the mower right now is set at around 10mm. It will be trimmed later, but Gray is not sure to what height. Trent Bridge, by comparison, had 8mm three days before the Test, which was to be cut down to 6mm. Gray believes there is more to it than just the height. "I am not one so much for the height of the grass," Gray said. "I go for the feel. We do check the height once in a while and whilst it is interesting it doesn't make the entire difference to what a pitch is like. There are other factors like how dense the grass is, how green it is. This has got some green on it." He expects the ball to seam around but not alarmingly. Gray was later seen in conversation with Alastair Cook and Peter Moores, but he does not need any instructions. Asked if he was told by England what to give them, he said he knew England wanted English conditions, and that is what he will strive to provide. The heat - with highs going over 30 degrees and no rain expected anytime soon - remains a challenge. Has there been any change in what England might want after they lost at Lord's in pretty English conditions? "Not as far as I am aware," Gray said. http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-india-2014/content/story/763771.html
Fontaine Posted July 24, 2014 Posted July 24, 2014 More pace and bounce? Good. More pain for England.
Old guy Posted July 24, 2014 Posted July 24, 2014 More pace and bounce? Good. More pain for England. lets hope we bowl first for once :winky:
cowboysfan Posted July 24, 2014 Posted July 24, 2014 thank you poms,i was hoping they wont go the other way after losing at Lord's.
CG Posted July 25, 2014 Posted July 25, 2014 lets hope we bowl first for once :winky: No i hope we bat first most of our wins have come that way.
Midfielder Posted July 25, 2014 Posted July 25, 2014 Dont like any combination. Ashwin for Binny as a minimum.
CG Posted July 25, 2014 Posted July 25, 2014 Dont like any combination. Ashwin for Binny as a minimum. Yes binny has to go.We cannot afford to play with 10 men.
fineleg Posted July 25, 2014 Posted July 25, 2014 Toss crucial. First two sessions wickets can tumble on green pitch.
maniac Posted July 25, 2014 Posted July 25, 2014 If dhoni scores a 100 on this pitch I quit icf....even better mods ban me.
BlueBee Posted July 25, 2014 Posted July 25, 2014 If dhoni scores a 100 on this pitch I quit icf....even better mods ban me. I'll quit internet.
Old guy Posted July 25, 2014 Posted July 25, 2014 If dhoni scores a 100 on this pitch I quit icf....even better mods ban me. I'll quit internet. Marked
G_B_ Posted July 25, 2014 Posted July 25, 2014 its not green there will be some grass. I listened to his interview live and the grass will be there as a precaution against 5 days of the beating sun.
SLICKR392 Posted July 25, 2014 Author Posted July 25, 2014 If dhoni scores a 100 on this pitch I quit icf....even better mods ban me. We have been here before. :cantstop: I just hope he contributes something above the usual 11 & 20s on these wickets.
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