The Hindu : Sport : Need for accredited curators

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Tuesday, Jun 20, 2006

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Need for accredited curators

Not having pitch preparation management in place will not help Indian cricket, writes Makarand Waingankar

Brian Lara. — PHOTO: AP

Pitches are like stray dogs. You can't predict their behaviour. Throwing biscuits to a stray dog to see if it's friendly and tapping a pitch to gauge its texture as determining tests are both exercises in idiocy.

Brian Lara is absolutely justified in seething about the condition of pitches in the Caribbean. He plays five fast bowlers looking at the green top and they get hammered. After losing the toss, Lara said that had he won the toss, he would have fielded. Half an hour later, when Sehwag was sending the ball to all corners of the ground, Lara must have wondered whether he did the right thing in consulting the curator.

And yet, the curator is not to blame. Curators are expected to be knowledgeable about the pitches they prepare, but the formula of any newly laid pitch makes the pitch's behaviour difficult to predict. The texture of the pitch for the second Test match did indicate it would help fast bowlers, and the TV commentators, all experienced Test players, confidently endorsed what Lara had said. Five overs were enough for experts to admit they had assessed the conditions wrongly.

Enough examples

There are enough examples in the history of the game showing captains stupid in asking opposition to bat. In the famous Ashes series of 1954-55, Sir Len Hutton put Australia in and lost the Brisbane Test by an innings and 154 runs. That was the time hardly any research was done in soil management. Things have changed.

When the schedule for the inter-State and other matches crosses the 500-mark in India, not having pitch preparation management in place will not help Indian cricket. Most of the pitch preparation staff of these grounds face practical problems, which affects the pitch and ground conditions. The ludicrous condition of some grounds in India is such that a roller pulled by three persons is called a heavy roller and the same pulled by one is a light roller.

Onus on BCCI committee

The five-member Pitch and Ground Committee appointed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has to go on the inspection-guidance trip, but for them to undertake the responsibility of a large number of venues is impossible. Even together, they may not be able to visit more than 50 venues.

Ideally, if each zone, like the Zonal Selection Committees, has a Pitch and Ground Committee, there will be better supervision. Not having inspected the venues, the worst sufferers are the junior cricketers who play on grounds that have neither a good pitch nor a decent outfield. Last season in one match at Indore, the ball bounced back to the bowler after landing on the huge crack near the long-off area.

Having no control on the grounds in the area under their jurisdiction, the associations can't get decent playing conditions. But the BCCI, disbursing huge sums to all the affiliated associations, must ensure that each association should individually have a minimum of three grounds.

To help curators prepare uniform pitches, the BCCI should set up a R&D centre at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and invite foreign experts in pitch preparation to conduct courses.

The BCCI needs a minimum of 50 to 60 good venues so that pitches can be prepared by accredited NCA curators. We have accredited coaches. Why not have accredited curators? Pitch preparation should never be given to amateurs who, not knowing the scientific measures, prepare pitches which finish Test matches in a couple of days. Not even in the days of uncovered pitches, Test matches were completed in two days.

The paying public, whether at the venue or at home, would enjoy competitive cricket far better than watching a batsman struggle on an under-prepared pitch. A cover drive or an on drive is as important as a ball going past the nose of a batsman or the ball turning on the third evening. Unless the pitch is prepared scientifically, the quality of skills will not improve.

For far too long, pitch preparation has been ignored possibly because of lack of finance, but now that can no longer be the reason for delaying the making of a blueprint for the enhancement of the quality of Indian pitches.

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