PITCH PERFECT FOR OPENER

BLUNDSTONE Arena head curator Marcus Pamplin has declared his pitch ready to rock ‘n’ roll and says it will be a batters dream for Thursday night’s women’s Big Bash opener at Blundstone Arena.

Pamplin and his crew of curators have worked around the clock for five weeks to transform the oval from a football ground to a pristine cricket deck ready to host nine T20s in seven days.

He said fans could expect a fast pitch that he hoped would produce some highscoring encounters.

“For a T20 you want to have a good pace and bounce as it’s all about boundaries and being a spectacle and we think we’ve delivered that,” he said. “The deck is definitely for the batters.

“It’s got a glassy look over it and as always it’s in favour of the batters for a T20.

“I reckon it’ll have good bounce and carry straight away, and it’s pretty hard and flat and ready to go.

“In saying that there should be a bit of pace in it but there won’t be any sideways movement.”

Pamplin said having all eight WBBL sides at the venue had caused extra work but was happy with the end result.

“Its been difficult as there’s been teams training pretty much every day, with four teams a day, which means we have to work around that but the practice wicket has been brilliant and the teams have been happy training out there,” he said.

Pamplin has been the head curator for more than 13 years and said it had been a hectic five weeks but was proud of his young crew.

“Cricket has come early, which means it’s only been four or five weeks since we did the reno, but we’re very confident it’s going to hold up for T20 cricket,” he said.

“We’ve got a pretty young crew – we’ve got three apprentices, one qualified curator and myself, and its definitely been early mornings and long days but its great we’ve been chosen to have the opening of the competition.”

While rain was forecast, Pamplin was confident the deck would hold up.

“It’s scheduled to rain in the morning onwards and the next two days, but it’s going to be a good wicket even if it does stay undercover for a day or so,” he said.

“The rain does create a lot of work if the game is interrupted but we’ll deal with whatever comes our way and we’re confident everything will go well.”

The deck will have its first test on Thursday when the Sixers and the Stars clash at 7.40pm at Blundstone Arena.