Magazine - Phil Stoyanoff Produces a Pace Friendly Pitch.

By Editor in Cricket on 9th Oct 2008 7:00

Fast bowlers were given a shot of adrenalin yesterday when they were greeted by a pace-friendly Bangalore pitch.

The Aussies could not believe their eyes when they arrived at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium to find the Test strip for tomorrow's series opener was rock hard, shiny and set to offer plenty of bounce. Spirits, after a shaky start to the tour, were also lifted by the damp and overcast weather as Bangalore comes to the end of its monsoon season.

While there is little grass on the wicket, the conditions are perfect for seam bowling and will help the frontline attack of Brett Lee, Stuart Clark and Mitchell Johnson.

New Zealand has suddenly become the team's best friend for delivering a wicket "which will help fast bowling" and negate Australia's spin-bowling crisis.  "It reminds me of the WACA," Kiwi curator Phil Stoyanoff said yesterday. "It's been rolled and rolled in the past week and is really firm. It has a lovely sound to it."
 
Cracks have already begun to appear but Stoyanoff was adamant they would not break up, which is bad news for India's hopes of spinning out Australia through Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.

"I have no worries about the cracks," Stoyanoff said. Stoyanoff, the curator at the Napier Test venue in New Zealand, was summoned to India to prepare a quality strip.

Clark and Johnson had expected a "typically dusty, brown Indian wicket" but were buoyed to discover they would be given plenty of assistance in the series opener. "It looks all right. I was expecting powder puffs," a happy Clark said as he inspected the deck.


Source & More: www.news.com.au/heraldsun

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