Hosts should take the feelings of fans into consideration
The third Test match at Ahmedabad is really done and (literally) dusted. With the much-touted game, certainly not a ‘match,’ over in a little less than two days and smiles and frowns on the face of the two competing teams, only the aftertaste remains. Like a bitter pill swallowed to regain strength. While India seem to be in the pink of health, England’s colour can best be described as pale for obvious reasons. The spectators, unfortunately, were left with unused stubs of tickets for three days.
As expected there was a backlash from those who represent the visitors, the content of which makes for interesting reading. Noteworthy Englishmen like Nasser Hussain, David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd and the irrepressible Geoffrey Boycott panned their team for various reasons. From lack of intent as batsmen who were found wanting in spin-friendly conditions and a ball that skidded much more than it bounced, and team selection where the visitors went in with only one spinner, the team management got the stick from their former players.
On the other hand, former England skipper Micheal Vaughan rested the blame solely on the playing surface saying that the pitch wasn’t good enough for Test cricket and if ‘India is allowed to get away with producing such surfaces, the more toothless the ICC will look.’ Heat and dust has always been a bugbear with the English whenever they have visited their former colony to play the game that they invented. Even while playing around the tropic of cancer when the weather is generally hot and dry, Vaughan and co expected a grass laden pitch which will enable swing and seam just like the village greens back home.
The expectations, though slightly different, also prompted England skipper Joe Root to opt for four seamers leaving out offspinner Dom Bess as the pink ball ‘swung’ on practice pitches.
So what makes a good pitch and what does not is the latest debate to hit the cricket world. R. Ashwin who is in the prime of form, gave his opinion while sniping back at an English reporter in a presser held a few days ago. When asked if the Motera pitch was a ‘good Test wicket’ and if there was a ‘contest between bat and ball,’ Ashwin used the old management trick of throwing the question back asking the reporter what in his opinion a good surface was and who defines it.
Ashwin, known for his straight talk, might have sounded a tad cocky but he did make a point. And his focus was that questions such as these (relating to the host country taking home advantage) are invariably asked when a visiting team loses in India and never abroad. Stating that no one asked if the pitches were good or bad when India toured New Zealand last year and the two Test matches ended in a total of five days, the Chennai spinner emphasised that Indians were taught to play on the surfaces given to them without any complaint.
It is a fact that ‘pink’ ball Test matches tend to get over much before the stipulated time not giving paying spectators their money’s worth, thereby debunking the very reason for conducting these day/night games: to increase the footfall in stadiums and getting in more fans. Ashwin may have made a point which can be debated till the cows come home but pitches such as these that challenge stroke making are out of tune with the tenet of the day which sells the game only on entertaining run fests.
India’s recent remarkable show against Australia at the Sydney and Brisbane Tests came on nasty pitches against (almost) intimidatory bowling by the hosts. The draw and win at these venues, against all odds, with the matches lasting all five days, was a fabulous testament to Test cricket and gave the fans moments they would remember forever. Testing the patience and ability of batsmen and bowlers in unfamiliar conditions is the reason it’s called ‘Test’ cricket. When games such as the last encounter at Ahmedabad end in less than half the time allotted, it does leave a true blue cricket fan wanting.
Going on to the fourth and last Test match at the same venue, one hopes that the organisers take the feelings of the fan into consideration. Winning at any cost seems to be the philosophy of modern cricketers but it goes against the doctrine on which the edifice of Test cricket was built.
While victory is what the fans will undoubtedly want they would also expect it to be a fair win giving batsmen and bowlers an equal chance. Unless the organisers respect the wishes of fans, Test cricket will remain on ‘skid row.’