Let’s pitch for change
By: sunil Gavaskar
December 3, 2006
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India’s disappointing show has made people from all walks ask questions, and though some will quite understandably have their own agenda, there is no doubt that the majority are bewildered by the fact that a team that looks so good at home cannot even perform to half that level when they go overseas, especially on pitches that have a bit of life in them.
Of course, cricket being a batsman’s game, there is more of a howl when India’s much acclaimed batsmen don’t score the volume of runs expected of them, and then every Amar, Akbar and Anthony screams for sporting pitches to be prepared in the country without even knowing the definition of what sporting is.
Batting strips
India has traditionally produced pitches which are good for batting, because in the days gone by, when there was no TV and the incomes for the associations depended solely on the people coming through the gates to watch the matches, it was crucial that the matches lasted the distance, and that meant preparing pitches that broke the bowlers’ backs and spirits with their lifelessness, but which lasted for five days.
Now, with the incomes of the boards decided by TV rights and sponsorships, the number of people coming to the stadia to watch doesn’t matter at all. In fact, there could be just ten at the ground and the associations will still have made the money through TV and sponsorship.
So, over a period of time, less attention has been paid to the quality of the pitches, resulting in some pretty ordinary ones, and this is particularly true of domestic matches, where pitches are blatantly made to favour the home team’s strengths.
BCCI ad hoc
A few years back, the BCCI had commissioned a New Zealand-based group of curators to come and study the Indian soil and pitches, and make recommendations to prepare pitches with bounce and pace in them.
Where that report is, nobody knows, but what is important is that it is there and needs to be dusted and found, and had a look at. India has always been happy to do things ad hoc, and not necessarily in sport, so it is no wonder that there are pitches and grounds committees comprising people who know precious little about pitches and how to make them.
It’s the old ploy of keeping the constituents happy, and so these committees will comprise people from various associations in power at the board.
With the money that the Indian board has, perhaps the time has come to look at having drop-in pitches, because with the soil in India not always conducive to making hard pitches, it may be a better option to have pitches baked somewhere else and dropped in, as is done in New Zealand.
The advantage of this is that these pitches can be made anywhere, and so the Indian soil doesn’t come into the equation at all.There will be those who will complain that it’s the prerogative of the home side to make pitches that suit its needs, and while its hard to argue with that, for Indian cricket’s sake, it is important to have drop-in pitches considered as an option, especially at venues where a hard pitch cannot be prepared.
Make no mistake, there are hard pitches in India, and the fastest pitches that I have played on were in Chennai and New Delhi in the late 1970s, and then there was one in 1983 against the ferocious West Indies attack at Green Park, Kanpur. So, it’s not as if hard, bouncy pitches cannot be made, but there has to be a will for it.
Punish associations
The other thing that the BCCI needs to act upon is to punish associations that do not prepare a good pitch. In the captains and coaches conclave held a couple of years back, it was agreed at the captains’ instance to penalize those associations that prepared dodgy pitches with points as well as a monetary fine.
That was never passed by the BCCI citing various excuses, and unless those at the BCCI forget their narrow interests and think in terms of Indian cricket, we will continue to get pitches that are a disgrace to the game.
The BCCI needs to appoint pitch inspectors who will immediately go to the venue where there have been reports of a pitch not being up to standard and then, if that is a fact then make a report, and the association should be fined points as well as monetarily.
As always, there should be an Appeals Committee, but it should comprise non-BCCI officials, but only those who have played the game and who know about different pitches. Of course, to report the pitch, the umpires and match referees need to have the courage of their conviction to do so.
At the moment, the match referees are appointed from the nominees of the various associations, and so there is every chance that these gentlemen will not report as they know that they will be marked men and wont get to be match referees again, and it is here that Indian cricket suffers as the policy of patronage that was there in the times of the Maharajas is still there, but only the royalty has been replaced by officials.
There are several officials who are genuine lovers of Indian cricket and want to see it progress, but they too are constrained by which side of the power groups they are on, and so the vicious circle goes on.
So does that mean Indian cricket has no chance of improving and making the strides commensurate with its vast population and financial resources? I am an eternal optimist and believe that there are more well-meaning people who can do it than the shortsighted ones.
AuthorTopic: Let’s pitch for change: Sunil Gavaskar (Read 277 times)
