Magazine - WACA Pacemen's Paradise for the Last Test

By Editor in Cricket on 14th Dec 2009 6:00

WACA ground curator Cameron Sutherland says he wants to make amends for last year by preparing a faster pitch for the third Test between Australia and West Indies.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting criticised the WACA wicket after last year's first Test defeat to South Africa, saying it lacked pace. Sutherland says this year's pitch will be faster and bouncier. "If [the pitches] don't perform to what they want, [the players] want to rectify it," he said. "I thought it was... just a fraction off the mark as far as pace goes, it's a really fine line. Australia were 3 for 14 after half-an-hour. "So if you spice it up a bit does it then become a two- or three-day Test match, and favour the bowlers too much? "We're just trying to find that balance."

Sutherland said he has been happy with the way the wicket has performed in the domestic four-day competition this summer. "I've been happy with the Shield decks so far," he said. "[Doug] Bollinger in the second innings [between New South Wales and WA] had the 'keeper 25 metres back and he was still taking it head-high.

"That's certainly the quickest one I've done, but it didn't have much sideways movement."

The Curtly Ambrose spell of 7-1 in 1993 lives on in folklore and Sutherland has had to deal with the pressure of expectation while also keeping his employer happy by maximising the length of matches.

He is over that cautiousness now though. "Obviously there's a bit of history there with the great West Indian fast bowlers, and even the Australians like [Dennis] Lillee, [Jeff] Thompson and [Glenn] McGrath," he said.

Despite the prospects of pace, there are some question marks over the WACA pitch which was recently re-laid, and the upcoming Test will be its first international match of the summer.

"This is a new strip, so it will be the first time it’s had a first-class fixture on it," Sutherland said.

Source & More: www.abc.net.au

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