The Hindu : Sport : Pitch will play a major part: Lara

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Wednesday, Oct 18, 2006
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Pitch will play a major part: Lara

Special Correspondent

Mumbai: West Indies captain Brian Lara said the Brabourne Stadium pitch would play a major part in the outcome of its match against Australia. "We have beaten them in the last month and that's a positive. We are going to make sure that the guys know that and the biggest positive is the fact that the pitch is going to play a part and we are looking to get the better of it. I might be going through a bad patch and I have got to snuff it out as soon as possible.''

Lara hoped that the authorities at CCI would roll out a better pitch. "What's confusing is the fact that the West Indies after having batted first didn't put up a total on the board and South Africa batting second did not do well.

"It's important for the team batting first to put up a good total. It's up to the people at CCI to improve things. The final is here as well. So we hope the pitches would improve, but it's not the sort of a pitch where one can think of a score of 275 or 300. We will be looking to score as much as possible, analyse the situation as early as possible. Whatever you do first, do it to the best of your ability and take total advantage of the game at that stage.''

Motivated

Lara also said that his team is motivated. "We are the defending champions and there's a certain style of play we have to adapt to. The defeat on Saturday had no ramifications on our position in the tournament and all the teams have started on zero and we are moving forward on that positive note.

"We are also going to look at the structure of our batting, but it's a question of having belief in your players. A little bit of a reshuffle may be on the cards,'' he said.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting said the conditions have been somewhat difficult for the batsmen at the CCI. "What the pitch has shown is that you have to really work hard to get runs. But we have become used to playing that way for a few weeks because the conditions were pretty much the same in Malaysia.

Cullen may play

"If we get a wicket that we have seen over the last two matches, we should know enough how to bat, adopt a game plan and play well enough. Off spinner Cullen's name will definitely come up for selection,'' said Ponting.

When asked if the West Indies has the advantage of having played three matches, Ponting said: "We have played a couple of practice matches but they have probably played tougher cricket, so they have a slight advantage there. But we have worked extremely hard since we have been here and one of the strengths of this team is that we have had success in varying conditions around the world. So nothing should catch us off guard.''

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