AUSSIES SHAPE UP TO COMBAT SPIN
HAVING been served up “irrelevant” pitches that didn’t spin for tour games last time they travelled to India, newly minted Allan Border medallist Steve Smith is happy to avoid the same issue this time.
The Australians flew out on Tuesday morning for the four-Test series having done their own preparation for the spinning pitches they’ll get on speciallymade wickets in Sydney.
Despite some criticism of the lack of tour matches, most notably from former Australian captain Michael Clarke, Smith said it was a waste of time when they toured in 2017, a series they tourists lost 2-1 when Smith was captain.
He said they served up “greentop” wickets and not the raging turners they need exposure to so wasn’t worried about the lack of exposure to the new conditions in match-type situations.
“We normally have two tour games over in England. This time we don’t have a tour game in India,” Smith said before leaving from Sydney airport on Tuesday.
“The last time we went I‘m pretty sure we got served up a green-top (to practice on) and it was sort of irrelevant. Hopefully we get really good training facilities where the ball is likely to do what it’s likely to do out in the middle, and we can get our practice in.
“We‘ll wait and see when we hit the ground. I think we’ve made the right decision to not play a tour match.”
The Australians have been given assurances the practice wickets in India will at least mirror what they are likely to get in the Test matches.
During a camp in Sydney last week, curators produced a practice pitch which was scarified and scuffed up with significant cracks to try and replicate Indian conditions.
“We feel as though out there the surfaces we got are very similar to what we‘re going to confront in India which is very difficult to replicate, but we feel as though we’ve got close,” Australian coach McDonald said. The first Test begins in Nagpur on February 9.