The Hindu : Sport : Lifeless surfaces kill the contest

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jan 21, 2006

Sport

Sport

Lifeless surfaces kill the contest

Lahore Test was boring and the pitch was a stinker

PETER ROEBUCK

Decades ago a celebrated scribe of sleuth stories wrote a yarn called "Why didn't they ask Evans?." If memory serves, the tale turned on the fact that the culprits had not sought information from one of the servants whereupon with inexorable logic the famous fictional detective concluded that they already knew the answer and must have committed the crime.

In the aftermath of the tedious Test match in Lahore, batsman after batsman was asked his opinion about the insipid piece of grass masquerading under the title of "cricket pitch". Why did anyone bother to question the batsmen? Naturally they were all pleased as punch! Most of them had filled their pockets with the eagerness of a child in a sweet shop. Most of them have been dreaming of hitting a Test hundred against their neighbour from the day they first tasted ghee.

For that matter why did anyone bother to ask the captains for their verdict? Inzamam is a mighty figure loathe to stir the pot. Dravid is a true diplomat. Inzamam defended his man and his counterpart was polite and sympathetic. Moreover both earn their crust by putting runs on the board.

Batsmen and captains alike shrugged and said that flat pitches were all part of the game and added that nothing could be done about it. They talked about the inexact science of soil preparation and the complications caused by the notoriously fickle weather gods. Inexact science? Thirty-six years ago Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon and it's beyond cricket to produce a surface offering sufficient pace and bounce to encourage the sort of cricket needed to fill stands and to satisfy a vast television audience?

Why didn't they ask the bowlers for an opinion about the pitch? Some of the game's finest leather-flingers were taking part in the match. Shoaib, Naved and Sami form a lively pace attack. Pathan and Agarkar can swing the ball dangerously. Kumble and Harbhajan count amongst the cleverest spinners on the planet. Danish Kaneria troubled the Englishmen a few weeks ago.

Discouraging for bowlers

None of them could find any encouragement in the pitch. They might as well have erected a bowling machine and gone to the beach. Long before the end they must have felt in communion with Bill O'Reilly. After spending several days trying to remove Len Hutton during the 1938 Oval Test match, the great leg-spinner growled that he was considering fetching a rifle and heading for the groundsman's hut.

Cricket is not merely a struggle for supremacy between teams. It also relies on a tension between bat and ball. Spectators must believe that both have been given a fighting chance of taking the spoils or else the game becomes a mere mathematical exercise. By and large low-scoring matches are more fun to watch because every run must be earned, every ball has meaning. The same applies in fifty over matches. When the batsman dominate the contests start to resemble basketball in that only the last five minutes are worth watching.

Bland surfaces drain all the life from the contest. A restaurant that serves only dull curry will not last long. Honesty is needed or the game cannot progress. Let's face it, the Lahore Test was boring and the pitch was a stinker. It must not happen again or the series will be a dud.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail