India tour of Australia, Nov 21 - Jan 18

[sussexpob]

I hope we do get some good pitches. Used to be the joy of an Aussie summer....unique challenges at every venue

[bigfluffylemon]

Wonder if the doctor will still be a factor?

The new ground is literally the other side of the river from the WACA, I read. So the wind coming off the Swan River should still be about, its just a question of whether or not that breeze can penetrate the new stands. Not sure, I couldnt tell you if it was built enclosed or not.

I think the consensus last summer was that the stands make the doctor less of a factor, but it's still there.

With only two ODIs played, neither high scoring (one very low), it's hard to say what the ground is going to be like, but the modern era of drop-in pitches is hardly encouraging.

Perth has been Australia's least successful venue this century. Lowest win percentage (although still a healthy 2.5 W/L ratio), and when you factor in draws, 41% have not resulted in an Australia win. It's the venue of one of India's only three wins in Australia this century (Adelaide being the other two now), and Ishant Sharma will have fond memories of India's victory in 2008, where the WACA did exhibit at least some of the pace of old.
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine ... ;type=team

Still, with the new stadium, bets are off.

[bigfluffylemon]

Curator said the wicket will be bowler friendly

Wonder if its the same guy who used to do it at the WACA, because in the last decade its become somewhat a tradition that he comes out before every test and proclaims the pitch has more spice than a goan vindaloo, and almost without fail every time the pitch turns out to be a pancake. He swore in the last Ashes it was a wicket that had been teleported from 1975, and then Australia made 600 on it.

The WACA pitch and the shenanigans day 5 last year were a joke.

[sussexpob]

I guess you could say the test wasn't supposed to be held at the waca, but the build over ran. Still, doesn't really excuse him failing to cover the pitch correctly, and one side having to bat on what was described as plasticine on day 5

[Arthur Crabtree]

Perth has been Australia's least successful venue this century. Lowest win percentage (although still a healthy 2.5 W/L ratio), and when you factor in draws, 41% have not resulted in an Australia win..

But a banker against England.

[alfie]

Curator said the wicket will be bowler friendly

Wonder if its the same guy who used to do it at the WACA, because in the last decade its become somewhat a tradition that he comes out before every test and proclaims the pitch has more spice than a goan vindaloo, and almost without fail every time the pitch turns out to be a pancake. He swore in the last Ashes it was a wicket that had been teleported from 1975, and then Australia made 600 on it.

The WACA pitch and the shenanigans day 5 last year were a joke.

I understand this curator is a new chap. Though he may well be keeping up his predecessor's tradition of promising more fire than actually eventuates...guess we will see on Friday.

[bigfluffylemon]

Perth has been Australia's least successful venue this century. Lowest win percentage (although still a healthy 2.5 W/L ratio), and when you factor in draws, 41% have not resulted in an Australia win..

But a banker against England.

Yup. Along with every other venue bar perhaps Melbourne (of all the losses in 2013, we really shouldn't have lost that one).

[Arthur Crabtree]

Threw it away in 06 as well.

[sussexpob]

Threw it away in 06 as well.

In Melbourne? The only test by memory we threw away was when Giles dropped punter as we dominated the first few days at Adelaide. Had he held onto an easy catch, Australia would have been about 70-4 or 5. Punter then score 150 and we crumbled to Warne .

In Melbourne we got annihilated by their bowlers. And In Perth Flintoff decided to bowl panesar for a whole innings second dig when the pitch had nothing for spin, and the Aussies went nuclear. Panesar had bowled the Aussies out first dig, Flintoff decided he wanted a second miracle at a venue where spin does nothing.

We picked Saj Mahmood as a horses for courses bowler at Perth, and Flintoff hardly gave him the ball.

[bigfluffylemon]

Adelaide was the worst in '06, by far. Even with Ponting's score, we should have drawn that game. I still have nightmares about waking up, turning on TMS expecting to hear England batting out a draw, and instead hearing that Ponting and Hussey were smashing England's bowlers around to chase down a pathetic target with ease.

[bigfluffylemon]

My point was that I was agreeing with AC that Perth is a banker for Australia against England, despite it being Australia's worst home ground against other teams. And that Melbourne is England's best ground in Australia in the modern era, although that's still not saying a lot - we just have a slightly less bad record there than everywhere else.

Using an admittedly entirely arbitrary cutoff date of 1980:
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine ... ;type=team

[Arthur Crabtree]

I remember England knocking the top off the Aussie batting at Melbourne in 06 with the pace bowlers dangerous- then Flintoff put on Monty and set the field back and let Australia back into the game. It was a real head scratcher (I was at that one).

[Durhamfootman]

(I was at that one).

very nice!

I hadn't realised that you'd been down under

[Arthur Crabtree]

The last two of that 06-7 whitewash.

[sussexpob]

I remember England knocking the top off the Aussie batting at Melbourne in 06 with the pace bowlers dangerous- then Flintoff put on Monty and set the field back and let Australia back into the game. It was a real head scratcher (I was at that one).

Symonds and Hayden did bring the Aussie batting line up back into the game. Both made huge runs.

Flintoff did the same at Perth, as I said below. It seemed a theme that series..... ignore pace, make spin bowl at one end all day. Although, was this the series that Jimmy struggled for pace, Saj was terrible, and Flintoff was too hungover to bowl (and arguably was starting to lose fitness?)