SA tour of India, Sept 29-Dec 7

[Dr Cricket]

when 20 wickets fall in a single day of test cricket , the most I believe to ever fall in a day in test history in india then of course questions have to be asked

especially when it happens on just the second day of the game, the day usually recognised as being the best day for batting, and also taking account of the quality of the 2 bowling attacks in relation to the batting lineups

but 10 wickets in 90 minutes at trent bridge is ok in a 2-day test?
finishing the test match in less than 2 days against WI at headingley is ok?
the current Aus v NZ test series regularly finishing tests in 3 days is ok (adelaide was about 2 and a half days)?

or this match at Lords - http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/566921.html with scores of 232,207,213 and 68

or this match at Lords - Pak losing 20 wickets in 2 sessions, let alone a whole day, on a deteriorating wicket after only a day and a half's play - http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/426416.html

if the pitch was so bad in Nagpur then how did Ind basically score 200 twice, and SA bat out 90 overs batting last on the pitch to score 185?

I'm sorry but it just doesn't add up

I watched bits of the test and it was good attritional cricket with the batters having to work hard and it being difficult to score quickly.

As for ordinary spinners, I'm not sure they are - Ashwin was the main weapon and I don't think he's an ordinary spinner at all.

they can't report those games the criteria only started from 06 but yes I do feel their been harsh or the regulation are stupid especially the last one. Edit should look at the dates, they really should be clear what excessive means.
the Fact literally no pitch in Australia would never get reported by having one simple thing pace and bounce.
It would be a disgrace if that was the only thing stopping perth getting reported.

http://icc-live.s3.amazonaws.com/cms/me ... rocess.pdf

I would really give the Nagpur pitch below average really don't see how it is a poor pitch barring the batsman making it look crap.

Fact is if Nagpur reported Adelaide, Lords, Trent bridge, Edgbaston should all go for providing excessive seam movement.
even the old perth games should get reported for uneven bounce.

[Dr Cricket]

holy crap Fox sport wrote a good article.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/cricket/aus ... 7628508927

[Dr Cricket]

Greyblazer again making good point on Facebook.

[hopeforthebest]

Comparing one bad pitch with another doesn't excuse a bad pitch which is what so many are doing. A bad pitch in Nagpur remains a bad pitch no matter how many other bad pitches it's compared with.

[Red Devil]

Comparing one bad pitch with another doesn't excuse a bad pitch which is what so many are doing. A bad pitch in Nagpur remains a bad pitch no matter how many other bad pitches it's compared with.

A key principle of justice is consistency, that's why people are comparing and asking why action is being taken in such a biased way.

[yuppie]

I think the issue the ICC have with the Nagpur pitch was not the turn, but the uneven bounce, inconsistent spin and the variable pace on day 1.

Personally i would like to see more batting friendly pitches get rated poor. The last WACA pitch should also have resulted in a telling off by the ICC.

[sussexpob]

You cant satisfy anyone nowadays. After years of test cricket being largely bore fest on horrible pitches that did nothing, we are now seeing a lot more pitches with some juice, and people are complaining no one is scoring runs on them.

Id much rather see a 3 day test where every ball is compelling and can lead to a wicket, than a test that goes 5 days with a wicket each session and a draw basically the only possibility after the first session.

[sussexpob]

From a personal perspective, the only pitches that are "bad" and should be punished, are ones that satisfy two criteria.

1. They are so dead a result isnt possible. Any pitch where less than 25 - 30 wickets are taken without rain interruptions should be flagged for investigation.
2. The pitch is dangerous and could result in injury.

[sussexpob]

Comparing one bad pitch with another doesn't excuse a bad pitch which is what so many are doing. A bad pitch in Nagpur remains a bad pitch no matter how many other bad pitches it's compared with.

A key principle of justice is consistency, that's why people are comparing and asking why action is being taken in such a biased way.

Indeed. I think this year in the county Championship vs Warwickshire, Sussex got away with a pitch that seemed to be pretty dangerous. A couple of batsman were hit ( I think one of the Warwickshire lads broke his hand, and another got a bad facial cut from balls spitting to head height from decent lengths - IIRC). There was no punishment.

Yet Hampshire and Northants have been deducted points before simply for producing wickets that turned on day 1.

There is too much inconsistency with it in all forms of the game, maybe because it is so subjective

[rich1uk]

From a personal perspective, the only pitches that are "bad" and should be punished, are ones that satisfy two criteria.

1. They are so dead a result isnt possible. Any pitch where less than 25 - 30 wickets are taken without rain interruptions should be flagged for investigation.
2. The pitch is dangerous and could result in injury.

well i'm gonna completely disgaree that those should be the only two criteria

I don't want to watch cricket on a pitch where average bowlers can just lob a ball down somewhere near a good line and length and the pitch is in such a mess the ball could go in almost any direction

I don't want to see cricket played on a pitch where the batsmen are being made to look like scrubs when they play at a ball and miss it by 6 inches because its moved so much

as I said in a previous post the only reason the game lasted as long as it did in Nagpur is the pitch was so bad that the ball was deviating too much most of the time for the batsmen to even get an edge on it , pitches like that make the game a lottery and remove the skill element from the game

[mikesiva]

I agree, rich...I don't really enjoy matches that end in three days, whether they're at Nagpur or Headingley.

Piedt and Abbott take seven wickets between them...that said, South Africa will probably do even worse when they bat!

[Aidan11]

SA's day so far.

[sussexpob]

well i'm gonna completely disgaree that those should be the only two criteria

I don't want to watch cricket on a pitch where average bowlers can just lob a ball down somewhere near a good line and length and the pitch is in such a mess the ball could go in almost any direction

I don't want to see cricket played on a pitch where the batsmen are being made to look like scrubs when they play at a ball and miss it by 6 inches because its moved so much

as I said in a previous post the only reason the game lasted as long as it did in Nagpur is the pitch was so bad that the ball was deviating too much most of the time for the batsmen to even get an edge on it , pitches like that make the game a lottery and remove the skill element from the game

I think after many batsman grew up on pitches that were so dead, we are seeing a clear change in pitches in recent times that batsman are struggling to adapt to. I think a lot of pitches feel worse simply because the technique to cope with them is so poor. Trent Bridge was an indication of that, a bit of swing and seam and the Aussies were completely at sea.

I remember a pitch in about 2002 when India played at Headingley. This was at the start of the decade of dead pitches, but with players who had grew up against bowlers of quality on difficult pitches. The pitch was green, it was overcast and humid, the ball went all over the place, but Ganguly/Tendulkar and Dravid played probably the best cricket I have ever seen together to make over 600 on a pitch you thought 200-250 could be competitive.

Good players can master the demons in a pitch. Bad players without the technique can make bowler friendly conditions look like raging seamers.

[Red Devil]

SA's day so far.

They got really really lucky with that Kohli wicket, he looked well set and him and Rahane were in cruise control and scoring freely. It was starting to look like India's day when they were together.

Rahane's innings was crucial, and hopefully he can keep it going in the morning, and maybe Ashwin can remember how to bat, his batting has been going the same way that Broad's did

interesting decision to drop Mishra and bring in Umesh as well

[yuppie]

Would be great to see Rahane go on and get his 100. The first of the series for either team.

Kinda nice to see bowlers inflate their stats instead of batsman.