It's the pitches, stupid! - Inbox at Cricinfo

Whatever happened to pitches that provided movement on day one, were best for batting on days two and three, and offered turn and uneven bounce on days four and five, all the while providing enough assistance to bowlers who were willing to bend their backs and allow batsmen to play their shots? Or, to cut that lengthy sentence short, where have all the sporting pitches gone?

The pitches in Australia were once fast and bouncy, South Africa the same along with swing, England and New Zealand were a swing bowler’s haven, the subcontinent was known for its turning tracks. Even within countries, different grounds had their own kinds of pitches. The Gabba and WACA were frighteningly fast, Adelaide was a batsman’s paradise, Sydney was a turner, Melbourne was sporting, Headingley was a serious examination of a batsman’s technique and so on. But in the last couple of years, the pitches seem to have become standardised. They all look the same! Worse, they all look like the ones used in the recent England-West Indies series in the Caribbean, where bowlers were nothing more than high-quality cannon fodder. We have turned a product whose USP was the variety it offered into a commodity and we’re now asking ourselves why the sales are down.

Rather than making cosmetic changes and hoping that they work miracles, it would be better to reinvigorate Test matches by making it an even contest between bat and ball. If some Test matches don’t see the light of the fifth day, so be it. If the cricket produced on the four days is good, isn’t it heaps better than a five-day snooze fest which no one bothers to turn up for anyway? If an even contest brings people to the stadiums and gets TV ratings up, isn’t it worth it to risk an occasional three or four-day Test match? Provide the crowd a poor contest, and it hardly matters whether you provide it at night or in the day! They will still do what they are doing now. Stay away!

The bottom line is, the boards have let their financial concerns take precedence over everything else. I know it’s easier said than done, but there is a simple solution to making the Test matches more appealing. Just improve the quality of pitches, and therefore the cricket, and the other issues, including the financial ones will take care of themselves.

Actually more is needed to bring bums on seats than just improving the quality of Test cricket (via pitches and other means). There are plenty of Twenty20 games out there which have been sell-outs merely because it was convenient to go to the game. 3 hours in the night is very suitable for parents who work in the day and the children won't get tired as quickly as a 6 hour or 8 hour game.

Your point on the boring pitches (and perhaps other things like shorter boundaries and bigger bats) is still valid of course but it won't solve all problems. And who knows, maybe night tests will make the ball do crazy things thereby swinging the balance back to the bowler.

Here's a thought to ponder. If you get a match where team A bats first and posts 600 odd... team B bats and makes 500 odd... Team A goes out again and declares some time after lunch on day 5 with a lead of 400 or something obscenly large. i ask you, whose fault was it that everyone will look back and say "That was a boring match" ?? the answer is simply the captains. They delayed Declarations far too long in first innings. they know they have only 5 days of play, so should adjudge when and how to declare accordingly. Captains always tend to look at how not to loose the match, rather than looking first at how to win it. yes, they may loose by attempting to go for the victory, but by insuring the draw as the minimum they'll get, they effectively make it all they will get.

That said. I agree... Pitches need to be made result pitches, not 5 day snore fests. At the rate they go, they wont even get revenue for the extended days of play, as even TV viewers wont want to watch

Couldn't agree more, where are the pitches with pace and bounce gone? There is no better spectacle than a genuine quick on a sporting pitch against a high class batsman. The recent Test series between South Africa and Australia in South Africa was a wonderful example of two good sides contesting on pitches that had pace, bounce and seam movement. As you mentioned compare that to the England series in the Caribbean that had me as an England fan disinterested

Valid point Akash.

I have a feeling administrators have a lack of faith in the modern players. The glut of limited overs cricket has resulted in an overall lower standard of a batting techniques around the world. Therefore administrators are afraid that sub-standard techniques will be exposed to a moving ball.

Having a crumbling surface conducive to spin on the final day isn't a problem however, as there are already 3 or 4 days of revenue gained. Administrators are loathing the notion of Test matches moving quickly through a bag of wickets falling. Regrettably, a more sporting pitch means shorter matches.

Rather than calling on national boards to produce these pitches, I would place pressure on domestic boards to do so. The marketing imperative on that level is less pressured, so there isn't the obligation to produce these lifeless roads.

At least this way, the grassroots system can ensure better cricketers will be developed to handle all conditions.

Everyone is looking at Test cricket and blaming everyone else. Get curators to prepare hard bouncy surfaces - not bowlers graveyards.
Allow students to watch Test matches and even ODIs for free - if there are empty stands.
Increase the number of overs per day and fine captains heavily if they don't bowl their quota.
Whatever happened to the 20 overs per hour that used to be the norm.
Tickets prices have gone up and the number of overs per day moving downwards - making watching Test matches a very expensive affair.
Improve the amenities at venues - more toilets, more food and drink outlets nearby, so that we don't have to walk long distances and stand in queues.
Have concession tickets for families.
Saving Test cricket does not need pink balls and other gimmicks - just common sense.
Benaud & Worrell livened the game by playing 'attacking' cricket - not safety first cricket
Siva from Singapore

great article akash! dont know what has happened to pitches over the last decade??? espechally in the west indies??? kingston used to be a fast bowlers track, now a raging turner for example? i know in new zealand its all drop in pitches which is never going to give you the same characteristics as the natural turf just look at the scorecards from the previous 2 indian tours one played pre drop in pitches and the one from this year played on the drop in pitches. similar story at the mcg, the pitch is as good as dead since the drop in pitches have been used. and i find it worrying that the gabba, one of the last lively wickets going around is being asked to use drop in pitches by the AFL its winter tennent as they see the centre as too hard for aussie rules! thankfully they havent agreed yet! still with the caliber of grounds men and the technology available to them in this day and age that you would think that they could reverse this trend in test cricket through out the world?