ADELAIDE: Damian Hough offers a sheepish smile when asked about the drop-in pitch debacle in New York during the T20 World Cup earlier this year.
The Adelaide Oval curator, whose team was in charge of preparing those fresh surfaces, now has an even more important task at hand -he must ensure the second Test between India and Australia doesn’t end in a heap of quick wickets and lead to similar accusations of farce.
Border-Gavaskar Trophy
“Both the drop-in pitches are challenging, we’ll leave it at that,” he offered. “New York was a great opportunity to get over there and learn. Anything you do in such a short time keeps you awake at night. But there’s nothing bigger than India and Australia in a Test match.”
The brief sample size of pink-ball Tests, played only since Nov 2015, makes it difficult for the experienced curator to offer an educated guess on the expected duration of the game. One thing, though, is clear: these games, cooked up to draw in the evening crowd to the longer format, tend to finish quicker.
India vs Australia, 2nd Test: Facing the Pink Ball has different set of challenges for batters
The general perception that pink-ball affairs are a nightmare for batters is spot on, since of the 22 pink-ball Tests played, only six have lasted the full distance of five days. Seven have ended within four days, seven within three days and two games within two days, in Ahmedabad (2021) and Port Elizabeth (2017).
Maybe it’s because the seam, or the ball itself, can be difficult for batters to spot, or perhaps because it jags around in the in-between twilight hours with the lights on, or even because of the early swing. Also, the jury is still out on the lacquer on the ball.
It’s also clear truncated pink-ball Tests are not limited to the hard and bouncy surfaces of Australia, or Adelaide in particular. In fact, Adelaide isn’t particularly notorious – out of seven games, two have lasted the duration. There have also been two three-day finishes and three four-day affairs.
Of the last seven pink-ball Tests played across the world, only the 2021 Adelaide game between Australia and England has been played across five days. But it was also here that Australia rolled India over for 36 in Dec 2020, with fast bowler Josh Hazlewood, who is sitting this game out, taking 5/8 in India’s second innings.
Sold-out seats, and 6 mm grass
“Back in the day, Adelaide was known for bat-a-thons and draws,” Hough said. “Do you want a five-day draw out of it? Obviously not. But do you want a two-and-a-half-day game? No, you don’t. Wickets falling can be exciting, but 10 wickets and 300 runs would be ideal. You’ve got to get that balance right. The fans come (tickets are sold out at the 53,500-seat stadium). We play our role, but the players play the game at the end of the day.”
Nearly 6 mm of grass has been left on the pitch, the same as in the ’36 all out’ Test. A recent Shield game between South Australia and Western Australia saw the quicks call the shots. “The preparation is the same,” Hough said. Pacers have picked up 106 of the 134 wickets to fall in the day-night Tests here, with spinners picking up 28.
Spin factor and other tricks, and thunderstorms too!
In fact, spin could even come into play later on, according to Hough, because of the 30% clay content, which tends to break up. “Also, if you don’t get a new ball under lights and you have set batters out there, you could see through the night-time period,” he said.
“It’s a pretty standard wicket,” lamented Australia’s star spinner Nathan Lyon. “I didn’t expect this from Damian. We’re going to challenge the defence for a long period of time. I really enjoy bowling here, with the spin and the bounce. Red ball, pink ball, white ball, definitely my favourite ground. It’s a great venue to bowl spin. If you’re good with the bat, you’ll score runs.”
KL Rahul, for one, wasn’t so sure about that. “The ball seems a bit harder than the red ball. While fielding, you can feel the ball hit your hands a lot quicker and harder. Same while batting. It seems to get to you much quicker and seams around a bit more than the red ball. There’ll be a lot of seam movement. Picking the ball from the hand can be tricky.”
There are also thunderstorms predicted on the opening day, adding to the great unknowns of the pink-ball contest.
