Now the ECB have brought in the new rule in the county championship that will see the home side docked ALL their points if the pitch is deemed unfit, how will this change pitch preparation?
In my view, not much having seen the utter run-fest at the Oval, where you could have played for a week and not seen a positive result.
It will be very unlikely that Surrey will see a punishment for this crime against bowling, because the ECB love a flat pitch, remember. It means that test matches last longer, bigger scores can be chased down in the 4th innings, meaning matches generally get to a fifth day. Scores are higher in ODI cricket, everybody seems to love seeing bowlers being flogged to all parts of the ground, and the scoreboard ticking over the 400 mark with overs still left in the innings. The T20 and Hundred formats love them too, batters just hitting through the line, no seam movement and no spin. We wouldn’t want to see a competition between bat and ball, would we?
All of this aside, when a pitch turns, and a batter’s techniques are tested, the establishment thinks it’s the biggest travesty in the world. Games are over in two and a half days because our batters simply aren’t good enough to negotiate the conditions.
Somerset seems to be the team who have borne the brunt of these points deductions in recent seasons, as they tried to produce turners in their bid to win their first-ever county championship, but with the threat of losing all of your points, this is a big gamble. So could Taunton go back to being as flat as the M5?
Nobody ever seems to have points deducted when they produce a lovely green top for their 4-5 man seam attack to rip into on a grey overcast morning, do they?
When 20 wickets fall on the first day, it’s just seen as good bowling. When a ball is seaming and nipping everywhere, or swinging around corners, that’s perfectly fine because both teams normally have bowling attacks that can exploit the conditions. When those matches end in 2 days, they’re just confined to the record books.
Wickets should deteriorate over the course of a 4-5 day match; the longer the game goes on, the more spin should be a major factor. Your spinner should be the bowler winning you the game on the last day, with fielders around the bat, and the footmarks getting deeper and wider. A proper old-fashioned contest.
