Melbourne, Dec 23 Matt Page, the curator of the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), said the drop-in pitch for the Boxing Day Test, starting on Thursday, will aid all fast bowlers, including India’s fast-bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah.
Bumrah is the leading wicket-taker in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series currently tied at 1-1 with 21 wickets coming at an average of just 10.9. “I think all the quick bowlers get excited when they come here now. It gets through well for us.”
“We are never going to be as quick as Perth or Brisbane, but over the last few years we have managed to get some pace into it, which has created that excitement. There is a bit of grass on it. If you are a fast bowler, and you look it at, you probably do get excited,” said Page to reporters on Monday.
He also defended the nature of pitches India were offered in their net practice on Saturday and Sunday, especially with murmurs coming out that the visitors’ were not pleased with the surfaces offering low bounce.
“For us, three days out, we prepare Test match pitches for here. If teams come and train before that, they get what pitches we have had. Today, we are on fresh pitches. If India had trained this morning, they would have been on those fresh pitches. It’s stock standard procedure for us, three days out.”
With day one of the match being a total sell out, the temperature in Melbourne is also expected to hit 40 degrees. Page stated the scorching heat will not affect the pitch preparation for the crunch clash, with six millimetres of grass to be left on the surface.
"It probably means it might quicken up a bit quicker than what it would if it was 20 (degrees). Whether we leave a bit more moisture in it, I can't say yes or no at this stage. We'll keep monitoring the weather ... and adjust our preparation accordingly. We've been really happy with the last couple of years, so it's a rinse-and-repeat job for us."
Page signed off by reflecting on the changing nature of the Melbourne pitch, which used to previously offer draws. “Seven years ago, we were quite flat. We sat down as an organisation and said we want to create more exciting contests, more exciting Test matches, so we leave more grass on it now.”
“That brings the bowlers into it a bit more, but they are still good for batting, once the new ball goes off. We aim to give bowlers opportunities at various points in the game while also giving batters a chance if they play well. So we experimented with our grass levels, compaction, and moisture, which took about three years to fine-tune.”
“Over the last two or three years, we’ve been consistent in what we’ve rolled out, leaving a bit more grass on the pitches than we used to. It’s provided thrilling contests, and that’s what we want to do."
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