Aussies in it to spin it

Smith happy to avoid ‘irrelevant’ tour pitches

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 fourTest series, having done their own preparation on specially made wickets in Sydney for the spinning pitches in India.

Despite some criticism of the lack of tour matches, Smith said it was a waste of time when they toured in 2017, a series the tourists lost 2-1 when Smith was captain. He said in 2017 they served up “greentop” wickets and not the raging turners they needed exposure to, so he wasn’t worried about the lack of exposure in matchtype 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 practise 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 practise 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. We’re better off having our own nets and getting spinners in and bowling as much as they can.”

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 that was scarified and scuffed up with significant cracks to try and replicate Indian conditions. The Aussies also used the Indian SG balls.

“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 to that,” Australian coach Andrew McDonald said.

“Often (there‘s) no real connection between that practice game into the first Test match. We feel as though we can control the surfaces here ... and hopefully it pays dividends at the back end.”

Australia hasn’t won a series in India since 2004 and that fact is not lost on Smith, who cemented his place in history on Monday night when he won a fourth Allan Border medal as the best player in 2022.

“It’s certainly huge. I don’t know if it’s the final frontier,” Smith said. “I’ve never won there, I’ve been there twice (for Tests), it’s always difficult playing there.

“India and England – our two opponents over the next six months – are probably our biggest as an Australian Test cricketer.”

The first Test begins in Nagpur on February 9.