The Hindu : Sport : There will be definite carry: Roberts

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Wednesday, Mar 14, 2007
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There will be definite carry: Roberts

Special Correspondent

Kingston: Contrary to belief, the tracks across the Caribbean, despite their differing clay content, will offer carry, Andy Roberts told The Hindu on Monday.

Roberts, formerly a menacing fast bowler, is the pitch consultant of the Cricket World Cup. "Each of the islands has different soils. We've studied them, analysed them scientifically, that's what we do these days, and I'm sure there will be bounce," he said. "It won't be very quick in the beginning because they've just been laid or relaid in most cases, but as they keep getting rolled and compacted, they'll quicken up. There will be definite carry."

On recent evidence, the conditions in the Caribbean have shown definite signs of slowing down. The relaid tracks at Sabina Park and St. Lucia, and the new track at St. Kitts played slow and low when India toured last year. Roberts, however, said, "They are new; where is the slowing down?"

Concerns

There has been some concern that a majority of the Super Eight games will be played in new facilities, but Roberts said observers will be surprised.

Roberts said the track at the new Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua would play similar to the pitches the Stanford Twenty20, a domestic competition, was played on. "It's clay taken from the same area. Those tracks (which hosted the Twenty20 games) had bounce, they were sporting."

Roberts, who has been the curator at the Antigua Recreation Ground (ARG), said the clay content in the new stadium was nearly 68 per cent, a lot higher than the ARG (43 per cent).

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