Tweet
'We didn't want a pitch like this'
Published: Tuesday | March 3, 2009
West Indies' fielder Brendan Nash drops a catch off England opener Alastair Cook during the final day of the fourth cricket Test match at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, yesterday. - AP
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):
The docile Kensington Oval pitch came under the microscope following the drawn fourth Test between West Indies and England which ended yesterday.
The pitch produced 1,628 runs for the fall of a mere 17 wickets, five hundreds and seven half-centuries.
Chris Gayle, whose West Indies side is leading the series 1-0, was not complaining too much, but England captain Andrew Strauss slammed the pitch for producing a boring result.
"No one knew it would have been so good," Gayle said. "We have to play on what we get. It was really, really flat and on a pitch like this bowlers have to toil.
England batted well
"We lead 1-0, so we are not complaining. But England batted well on it and it was just one of those situations from which we will learn.
"We never asked for any type of pitch here. Over the years, whatever we have asked for in the Caribbean, we do not get anyway. Whatever is put in front of us, we have to work with it. But we certainly did not want a pitch like this," he said.
Strauss felt the pitch remained incredibly flat throughout the game and was surprised it did not have more pace and bounce, or deteriorate to test the skills of the players towards the end.
"As a result, the match ended up being a really boring draw which no one wants to see," he said.
"Generally, if you cannot force a result, you want to have a pretty tight tussle, like we had at the Antigua Recreation Ground. Clearly, that would have been very difficult to do on this pitch.
"To a certain extent, you go on what you hear from the groundstaff and various other people that have experienced the pitch. But the funny thing is that with the new ball it flew through a little bit, but once the ball got older, the ball sat on the pitch."
Difficult to work on
( L - R ) Gayle, Strauss
Both captains admitted that their sides' attack may not have been at their best, but it was still difficult for the bowlers to work on such a feather bed.
"Our bowling is strong enough though and they are accustomed to these flat pitches," Gayle said. "It is our home turf. It is nothing new to us. The England attack may have missed someone like Freddie (Andrew Flintoff), although he did not get many wickets in the last two Tests, but having him in their side presents a totally different proposition."
Strauss does not believe that either side could have bowled any better to be able take the 20 wickets needed to win.
"We've had eight, nine, or 10 bowlers bowling on it and nobody looked particularly threatening," he said. "I would not blame the quality of the bowling by any means. From the England bowlers' point-of-view, I think that they bowled exceptionally well. I think that the way they continued bowling the right sort of areas, session after session after session, was a testament to the control they have.
Strauss also praised the way his bowlers experimented to find a way to make breakthroughs.
"I thought our bowlers innovated in this game with a lot of variations like cutters and slower balls and bouncers and over the wicket and around the wicket, so the bowlers are definitely thinking," he said. "None of the options had a huge amount of success for us in this game, but that's what you learn from bowling on such pitches, those options and perfecting those options will stand you in good stead in the future."
More Articles from Sport
Published: Tuesday | March 3, 2009
West Indies' fielder Brendan Nash drops a catch off England opener Alastair Cook during the final day of the fourth cricket Test match at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, yesterday. - AP
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):
The docile Kensington Oval pitch came under the microscope following the drawn fourth Test between West Indies and England which ended yesterday.
The pitch produced 1,628 runs for the fall of a mere 17 wickets, five hundreds and seven half-centuries.
Chris Gayle, whose West Indies side is leading the series 1-0, was not complaining too much, but England captain Andrew Strauss slammed the pitch for producing a boring result.
"No one knew it would have been so good," Gayle said. "We have to play on what we get. It was really, really flat and on a pitch like this bowlers have to toil.
England batted well
"We lead 1-0, so we are not complaining. But England batted well on it and it was just one of those situations from which we will learn.
"We never asked for any type of pitch here. Over the years, whatever we have asked for in the Caribbean, we do not get anyway. Whatever is put in front of us, we have to work with it. But we certainly did not want a pitch like this," he said.
Strauss felt the pitch remained incredibly flat throughout the game and was surprised it did not have more pace and bounce, or deteriorate to test the skills of the players towards the end.
"As a result, the match ended up being a really boring draw which no one wants to see," he said.
"Generally, if you cannot force a result, you want to have a pretty tight tussle, like we had at the Antigua Recreation Ground. Clearly, that would have been very difficult to do on this pitch.
"To a certain extent, you go on what you hear from the groundstaff and various other people that have experienced the pitch. But the funny thing is that with the new ball it flew through a little bit, but once the ball got older, the ball sat on the pitch."
Difficult to work on
( L - R ) Gayle, Strauss
Both captains admitted that their sides' attack may not have been at their best, but it was still difficult for the bowlers to work on such a feather bed.
"Our bowling is strong enough though and they are accustomed to these flat pitches," Gayle said. "It is our home turf. It is nothing new to us. The England attack may have missed someone like Freddie (Andrew Flintoff), although he did not get many wickets in the last two Tests, but having him in their side presents a totally different proposition."
Strauss does not believe that either side could have bowled any better to be able take the 20 wickets needed to win.
"We've had eight, nine, or 10 bowlers bowling on it and nobody looked particularly threatening," he said. "I would not blame the quality of the bowling by any means. From the England bowlers' point-of-view, I think that they bowled exceptionally well. I think that the way they continued bowling the right sort of areas, session after session after session, was a testament to the control they have.
Strauss also praised the way his bowlers experimented to find a way to make breakthroughs.
"I thought our bowlers innovated in this game with a lot of variations like cutters and slower balls and bouncers and over the wicket and around the wicket, so the bowlers are definitely thinking," he said. "None of the options had a huge amount of success for us in this game, but that's what you learn from bowling on such pitches, those options and perfecting those options will stand you in good stead in the future."
More Articles from Sport