"The WACA groundsman was subsequently dismissed..."

[ankitj]

True, but does not add a lot to the discussion.

I know

 

[0RI0N]

They got it wrong. That pitch wasnt that bad in 93, nor was it great, but it was horrible in 97, worst pitch seen in Australia in decades, and he was fired definitely in 97. Not the the first or last time Cricinfo gets facts wrong.

There was nothing wrong with that pitch. It favoured fast bowlers yes, but so did many others in the 90's eg. Edgbaston 95,Kingsmead 96, Bridgetown 97 amongst others.

The WI bowlers just bowled and utilised conditions better than aus bowlers.WI bowlers were too good for Aùs batsmen on that pitch.

Oh and BC scored a gem 132 on that pitch.Honest bharani,you remember that innings?

 

[robelinda]

No doubt that the WI bowlers bowled WAY better than us on that 97 pitch. We didnt seem to aim for the cracks too much, though to be fair they hadnt started to really rip apart until about 3/4 through WI 1st innings, which was day 3 ( I think!). On Day 4 it was pretty crazy, the WI tail were really struggling playing Reiffel, who was jagging it big time. Lara did play superbly for his 132 ( Which ive uploaded), but it was mostly a good bouncy fast pitch, but we couldve bowled better for sure, and he murdered us. In that era of Aus test cricket we usually lost the last test of a series which we'd already won, pressure was off after thrashing WI in Adelaide. Not an excuse of course though. We shrugged off the match and proceeded to give South Africa an almighty hammering a few weeks later at Joburg, with my hero Greg Blewett playig one of the Top 5 innings ive ever seen, making 214.

 

[Top_Cat]

A pitch that Rob Samuels got runs on, that's a firin'.

That pitch had some big cracks from before play on day 1. They didn't really start to jag until the last day and a bit, though. Day 4, was very awkward to negotiate. Everyone remembers Blewett's ball from Ambi but most of the op-order copped a few which spat aside from their wicket balls.

Lara's knock was outstanding, though.

 

[honestbharani]

There was nothing wrong with that pitch. It favoured fast bowlers yes, but so did many others in the 90's eg. Edgbaston 95,Kingsmead 96, Bridgetown 97 amongst others.

The WI bowlers just bowled and utilised conditions better than aus bowlers.WI bowlers were too good for Aùs batsmen on that pitch.

Oh and BC scored a gem 132 on that pitch.Honest bharani,you remember that innings?

Sure do

No doubt that the WI bowlers bowled WAY better than us on that 97 pitch. We didnt seem to aim for the cracks too much, though to be fair they hadnt started to really rip apart until about 3/4 through WI 1st innings, which was day 3 ( I think!). On Day 4 it was pretty crazy, the WI tail were really struggling playing Reiffel, who was jagging it big time. Lara did play superbly for his 132 ( Which ive uploaded), but it was mostly a good bouncy fast pitch, but we couldve bowled better for sure, and he murdered us. In that era of Aus test cricket we usually lost the last test of a series which we'd already won, pressure was off after thrashing WI in Adelaide. Not an excuse of course though. We shrugged off the match and proceeded to give South Africa an almighty hammering a few weeks later at Joburg, with my hero Greg Blewett playig one of the Top 5 innings ive ever seen, making 214.

This.

A pitch that Rob Samuels got runs on, that's a firin'.

That pitch had some big cracks from before play on day 1. They didn't really start to jag until the last day and a bit, though. Day 4, was very awkward to negotiate. Everyone remembers Blewett's ball from Ambi but most of the op-order copped a few which spat aside from their wicket balls.

Lara's knock was outstanding, though.

And this.


Really do think it was a difficult pitch to bat on, esp. when Lara made his 100, wasn't it? That is what it says on the report I just now read..

 

[0RI0N]

Oh and robelinda you are a boss.
Thanks for the youtube uploads.