File photo from an India vs Australia cricket match at Adelaide© AFP
Potential thunderstorms are forecast for the opening day of the India vs Australia day-night Test, starting on Friday, which is unusual for Adelaide at this time of the year. It will be India’s first pink-ball Test in Australia since they were infamously bundled out for 36 at the same venue back in 2020 but Adelaide pitch curator Damian Hough maintained there were no demons in the pitch even back then. “I am not sure exactly on the timing of those storms coming through, but we’re expecting to pull covers a bit on Friday. Hopefully it clears out on Saturday morning … then it should be good for the remainder of the Test,” he said.
Hough said weather has a huge role to play in the the movement of the pink ball. “The ball hooping around has got nothing to do with the pitch. Under right conditions, right weather, the ball will move.”
“On the morning of day three, no one would have expected that Test match to finish in three days. That was just really good bowling from Australia…I don’t think the pitch played a part in that,” he said.
The history of pink-ball Test cricket shows that batting during twilight poses the toughest challenges for batters. While Hough didn’t have definitive information, he felt the common view of twilight sessions being tough for batters was accurate.
“I just worry about the pitch preparation side of things, so I don’t talk to the plaers in-depth about what they find challenging. But history suggests that the night time session tends to liven up a little bit in regards to if a new ball, or there’s a declaration or they get them all out under lights in that last session with a couple of new batters.
“It seems to then take a bit more to get used to. If you’ve got a couple of players in, they can navigate through that a lot easier. I know that they found it hard in the early days to pick the seam and even with the spinners. So I know Kookaburra have done a lot of work in with the ball, but I don’t know the finer details.
“I sort of just focus on my role within the game and preparing the pitch. I don’t try to understand all of those other aspects of the game. Like, if I can get my side of it right with my team or then that plays a role in allowing the players to shine.”
With IANS inputs
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