Most writers don’t mind people disagreeing with what they have written, or even getting criticised. Freedom of expression, their own and that of others, is a value journalists cherish and guard fiercely. But I must confess I am a bit surprised with some of the reactions to a piece I wrote criticising the Karachi pitch that managed to get into the record books for all the wrong reasons. In fact, I had expected the opposite; that the Pakistan fans would agree with me that pitches that produce no contest between bat and ball are the biggest threat to Test cricket. Instead, many readers found my views "extreme", "ignorant", and worst of all "prejudiced".
Perhaps I wasn’t able to communicate what I wanted to say clearly. I thought I was speaking on behalf of the cricket fan, in Pakistan and elsewhere, but if it came across as if I was singling out Pakistan unfairly, then obviously I failed. I felt the same way about the Chennai Test between India and South Africa despite Virender Sehwag’s sensational, faster than a run-a-ball triple-hundred. Any pitch that produces 1498 runs at the cost of 25 wickets is cricket’s enemy; and any pitch that reduces a bowling attack comprising
Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini and Morne Morkel to cannon fodder makes a mockery of the most central appeal of cricket. I rejoiced when the bowlers struck back on a slightly bouncy, but by no means unplayable or dangerous, on which India were dismissed for 76 on the first morning in Ahmedabad.
The pitch for the final Test of the series, in Kanpur, produced an interesting debate. India had obviously wanted a turner and they got hit. The pitch looked baked and cracked before the match began, and though it didn’t turn out as dangerous as people feared as it might be, run-scoring was still a struggle. The match finished in three days, and the pitch was reported by the match referee for being below par.
That riled me no end. Yes, the pitch wasn’t ideal, but it produced a result; South Africa scored 265 in the first innings and India 325; and no one got it. How was this pitch any worse than the Chennai pitch on which only two innings were completed? Perhaps the greater crime of the Kanpur track was that the match didn’t last the distance, costing the broadcasting channel
precious advertising revenue.
This was at the heart of my protest against the mega bore in Karachi. For Test cricket to stay strong and vibrant, administrators must first protect the interests of the spectator.
I am keen on hearing from you. Our love for cricket keeps us on the same side.
This blog has been a long time in the making. It’s a lame excuse, but I can offer the explanation that I was looking for the right tone for this blog because I also write in the other areas of the site. I don’t claim to have found it, but I have been shamed into action by John Brewin and Graham Jenkins, my colleagues at Soccernet and Scrum, Cricinfo’s sister sites, who have started their editor's blogs.
So first things first: this will not be a column, nor a journal or a diary. Rather, I am hoping that it will develop into a conversation. Cricinfo’s primary duty has always been to its readers, and one of the great gifts of the internet, is the connection it allows between the reader and the writer.
This page will be a modest attempt to further that connection.
It will also feature random reflections and observations forgive me, and feel free to chastise me, if it occasionally veers towards self-indulgence but mainly it will aim to draw you into the world of Cricinfo. I am always curious about what goes into the making of things I like: movies, books,
gadgets, magazines, or even cocktails and pasta, and I hope it will be of
some interest to you to get a peek behind the scenes at Cricinfo. Alas, that
will not include what Andrew McGlashan is up to in the evenings at the St
Lawrence Gap in Barbados.
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