***Official*** India in Australia 2014-5

[honestbharani]

It's a very different thing to complain about something when you've won. And I haven't heard the team complaining about the nets at all...?

Nah, it is a whinge all the same.. And Harris is not whinging abt a series they won, he is whinging abt a series they were whitewashed in... I watched every match of that series and apart from Chennai on days 4 and 5, no other pitch qualifies to anything remotely close to a shocker... Batsmen who play spin and reverse swing well and bowlers who could bowl spin and reverse swing well were rewarded and last time I checked, they were as much part of cricket as any other facet was.


EDIT: To be more specific, I am referring to the part where he said they got some "Shockers" as the whinge.. Not about his complaints about the pitches this year. I thought that is alright coz I have always believed it is fair dos for home teams to get pitches which suit them, as long as they are not unreasonably biased towards them, like some of the 90s Indian tracks...

 

[honestbharani]

If that's the team they play then I'd be pissed as hell if I had tickets and want a refund. Maybe they will just play all the bowlers/all rounders and have Haddin at 5 like NSW would. When in Rome.

Warner
Rogers
Watson
Smith
Haddin
Mmarsh
Agar
MJ
Harris
Lyon
Hazelwood

Yeah but MMarsh is out injured and apparently, MJ Is too.. Hence you may put Smarsh and Siddle there...

 

[Spark]

Mumbai turned sharply very early on IIRC, but that's sort of what you expect there. I agree that it's dumb to whige about Indian pitches, but it's nonetheless a very different look to complain about something when you've won already. If you're losing, there's nothing to be gained by doing anything other than shutting up and not being ****.

 

[honestbharani]

yeah... sometimes even when the complaint is valid it just looks so bad when you do it after getting your rear handed to you right?

 

[OverratedSanity]

It's a very different thing to complain about something when you've won. And I haven't heard the team complaining about the nets at all...?

I don't give a **** if Harris complains about the pitches being flat. Mitch has already had a whine about it, and it doesn't bother me. What's this about shocking wickets in the 2013 series? Don't think there was any pitch which fits his description. The only one which could be called a true square turner, which would be the equivalent of the greentops Harris wants here, was in the 4th test where Jadeja got a 5fer. It's this frankly laughable assertion that pitches in the SC are awful no matter what happens.... if it's a good batting wicket, it's a road... if it offers turn, it's a "shocker". Jesus ****ing christ.

And you do realise that he's indirectly having a cry about the series which Australia lost in India, because he's mentioning those pitches, don't you? Ooooh, they got red dustbowls at home, we want greentops. Gimme a ****ing break. The double standards here are atrocious.

 

[hendrix]

Some people believe that rather than seeking home advantage, grounds men all over the world should aim for that "perfect" pitch where it seams day one, is flat days 2 and 3, and dries out days 4 and 5 - I.e. Something for everyone.

If that's Harris' belief then yeah you could say those pitches were shockers as there was no attempt to give the seamers the first session. You could also be moderately frustrated with the pitches in this series.

Not saying it's my belief, just a different perspective.

 

[GotSpin]

Some people believe that rather than seeking home advantage, grounds men all over the world should aim for that "perfect" pitch where it seams day one, is flat days 2 and 3, and dries out days 4 and 5 - I.e. Something for everyone.

If that's Harris' belief then yeah you could say those pitches were shockers as there was no attempt to give the seamers the first session. You could also be moderately frustrated with the pitches in this series.

Not saying it's my belief, just a different perspective.

Yeah. Harris is obviously talking about this from a seamers perspective. Its why I find alot of test cricket pretty boring in the subcontinent as well.

 

[G.I.Joe]

Some people believe that rather than seeking home advantage, grounds men all over the world should aim for that "perfect" pitch where it seams day one, is flat days 2 and 3, and dries out days 4 and 5 - I.e. Something for everyone.

If that's Harris' belief then yeah you could say those pitches were shockers as there was no attempt to give the seamers the first session. You could also be moderately frustrated with the pitches in this series.

Not saying it's my belief, just a different perspective.

Bowl out opposition on day 1.

Bat out days 2 and 3.

Bowl out opposition on day 4.

"Perfect pitch".

 

[OverratedSanity]

Bowl out opposition on day 1.

Bat out days 2 and 3.

Bowl out opposition on day 4.

"Perfect pitch".

You could argue that the team which bats first can pile on 600 and take control of the game if they get through day 1.

But yeah, what he described there was hardly the "perfect pitch". There's no such thing.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Yeah. Harris is obviously talking about this from a seamers perspective. Its why I find alot of test cricket pretty boring in the subcontinent as well.

Pattinson produced a superb spell on one of those shockers, which was supposed to be a seamer's graveyard. Siddle did it too, in Mohali. Fact is, the rest of the Aussie pacers weren't good enough to support them and didn't work properly as a unit. Ironically, I think Harris would've done well, which is why I find his whine surprising.

 

[Prince EWS]

You could argue that the team which bats first can pile on 600 and take control of the game if they get through day 1.

But yeah, what he described there was hardly the "perfect pitch". There's no such thing.

If I was a groundsman I'd be looking to prepare a pitch that played into the relative strengths of the home team to the biggest possible extent without making the game a lottery or giving the toss too much relevance.

From a spectator's perspective though, value is subjective. It depends what you like.

 

[Spark]

I don't give a **** if Harris complains about the pitches being flat. Mitch has already had a whine about it, and it doesn't bother me. What's this about shocking wickets in the 2013 series? Don't think there was any pitch which fits his description. The only one which could be called a true square turner, which would be the equivalent of the greentops Harris wants here, was in the 4th test where Jadeja got a 5fer. It's this frankly laughable assertion that pitches in the SC are awful no matter what happens.... if it's a good batting wicket, it's a road... if it offers turn, it's a "shocker". Jesus ****ing christ.

And you do realise that he's indirectly having a cry about the series which Australia lost in India, because he's mentioning those pitches, don't you? Ooooh, they got red dustbowls at home, we want greentops. Gimme a ****ing break. The double standards here are atrocious.

Hey, I agree. I'm just saying that the difference between Harris/Johnson complaining that these decks have been roads (which they have been, and it's been less than great) and Dhoni complaining about the practice pitches at the Gabba is that the latter makes you look like a sore loser looking for excuses, which obviously is predicated on having lost first.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Hey, I agree. I'm just saying that the difference between Harris/Johnson complaining that these decks have been roads (which they have been, and it's been less than great) and Dhoni complaining about the practice pitches at the Gabba is that the latter makes you look like a sore loser looking for excuses, which obviously is predicated on having lost first.

Oh don't get me wrong, Dhoni whining about practice pitches is far, far worse than anything Harris and Mitch have complained about.

However, Harris getting in a silly remark about Indian pitches in the series they got whitewashed in is pretty bad too. It's essentially finding excuses about the loss too (similar to Gambhir's infamous "Prepare rank turners at home" rant), only it's come a year after the series loss.

 

[hendrix]

Bowl out opposition on day 1.

Bat out days 2 and 3.

Bowl out opposition on day 4.

"Perfect pitch".

You could argue that the team which bats first can pile on 600 and take control of the game if they get through day 1.

But yeah, what he described there was hardly the "perfect pitch". There's no such thing.

Yeah I'm quite aware of the fallacy of the idea and also how toss-dependent pitches can be.

Still there is a school of thought amongst spectators and players that pitches should be even and fair to pace bowlers, spinners and batsmen over the course of the game.

 

[Pratters]

Harris and Johnson have a point. The pitches haven't been the most threatening. To be fair though, England was an anomaly. Australian pitches have worrying been less hostile compared to the 90s.

 

[G.I.Joe]

A 3 test series with 3 different pitches for each Test - a greentop, a turner and tarmac (similar to Brisbane-Sydney-Adelaide before they lost their distinctiveness) would be far fairer and less of a lottery than a series with 3 of those "perfect pitches" in succession. The spectator might prefer the latter though. Basically what PEWS said.

 

[Pratters]

I like how the pitches are supposed to be ideally - on the whims of the groundsman who can prepare it as he fells, hopefully advantaging the home team. What I don't like is these drop in pitches which endanger to make cricket lose a bit of it's distinctness.

 

[Contra]

Australia batted first in all 4 games in 2013 and they still lost all 4 lol. Australia simply weren't good enough on that tour. The only pitch which was genuinely a purely spinning wicket was Delhi, rest were typical solid Indian wickets with loads of runs on offer if you are good enough, Mohali in particular was flat as hell, shame on Australia for losing in 4 days on that one.

 

[Spark]

I like how the pitches are supposed to be ideally - on the whims of the groundsman who can prepare it as he fells, hopefully advantaging the home team. What I don't like is these drop in pitches which endanger to make cricket lose a bit of it's distinctness.

In fairness the Adelaide drop-in seems to be behaving exactly like the pitch before the drop-in, but the MCG drop-in can go get ****ed. Slow, low pudding which neither seams nor turns.

 

[Pratters]

I loved how they did the Perth one a bit back where they studies the soil and tried to bring back a spirit of the Perth of the old. The thing with drop ins is that if you do it right, there is no problem. However, standardisation is easier and a more sameness can happen in the future, I fear. I heard the Australian and New Zealand pitches in the world cup are going to be all drop ins and similar. I find that ridiculous, if correct.