Tailoring home pitches counter-productive
South Africa’s home record is tremendous, having won 13 of their last 15 Tests, and the brand of cricket they are playing is exciting with hostile fast bowlers roaring in and their batsmen seemingly trying to get runs as quickly as possible before their inevitable demise on sporty pitches that have clearly tilted the contest in favour of the ball.
Proteas coach Ottis Gibson is a Barbadian who was born in 1969, so he grew up during the era of West Indies dominance that is inextricably linked with four great fast bowlers pummelling the opposition into submission. This is the preferred tactic that Gibson has brought to the Proteas as well, and while it has certainly been successful with both India and Australia seen off, there are dangers involved in putting all of their eggs in one basket.
Captain Faf du Plessis has made it clear his goal is to return the Proteas to the No 1 Test ranking last enjoyed in January 2016, and to achieve that it is essential they also win overseas. But the current strategy at home is counting against that in two ways.
By preparing pitches that have noticeably shifted the balance between bat and ball, South Africa are encouraging other countries to do the same when they tour their lands. Given the pitches India had to play on in 2017/18 over here, why shouldn’t they prepare the same rank turners they used in 2015/16 when the Proteas tour the subcontinent again in their inaugural World Test Championship @KenBorland Series fixtures in September?
Perhaps more pertinently, however, by giving our pacemen such helpful conditions at home, are they being encouraged to develop the skills and strategies required to succeed on good batting pitches elsewhere in the world?
India’s success in Australia has been inspired by some incredible fast bowling from Jaspreet Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma, and captain Virat Kohli has pointedly stated that their success has been built on learning their trade in the Ranji Trophy four-day domestic competition.
Although some bigoted Australian commentators have mocked the value of runs scored in that tournament (as if Australian batting is in such great shape at the moment), there is no doubt playing on good pitches has upskilled their players. Their healthy lead atop the world rankings says it all.
While Dale Steyn, the senior member of the attack, has spoken of the confidence gained from getting lots of wickets at home being transferable and helpful elsewhere in the world, the fact is, the pitches have been doing a lot of the work for the Proteas bowlers.
The most disturbing feature of the surfaces in recent Test matches in South Africa has been the inconsistent bounce. The International Cricket Council’s pitch guidelines, by which wickets are ranked, are clear that the onset of variable bounce should only happen on days four or five on good surfaces. In the last few Tests on home soil, the ball has been misbehaving from the first day; coupled with the seam and swing so often available in South Africa, the batsmen have really been on a hiding to nothing.
The days of the Proteas just asking the groundsmen for pace and bounce seem to be over, and the demise of “good cricket wickets” could well see the recent decline in South Africa’s overseas returns being exacerbated.