As we get closer to the end of the year, we are all looking toward a brighter future. There’s a lot that we can look back on in the past either to improve upon or continue to excel at. Come join Cricket Huddle and give a listen to our State of Cricket podcast so you can find out about how the previous sentence can apply to cricket. Today’s topic is all about improvement, as we discuss pitches in cricket ruining the game, especially in the Test format. Something needs to be done to properly maintain them so that we can actually see competitive matchups instead of one-sided affairs, as well as maintain player safety (RIP, Phil Hughes).

“Dust bowls” and “green tops” can be acceptable pitches in Tests, but flat tracks are the issue. The recent England vs. Pakistan series featured barren pitches that were batting paradises. I mean, just look at the scores: 657, 254, 579, 268 (first Test); 281, 275, 202, 328 (second Test); 304, 216, 354, 170 (third Test). The only “normal-looking” scores came in the second Test at Multan. Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, in the first Test, saw 506 runs in 75 overs on day one! The fact that England was still able to bat fast in their second innings and declare on 254/7 in 35.5 overs, all in one session, should be very concerning. After that game, the pitch did receive its second ‘below average’ rating of the year.

There’s also an issue with double standards. England did manage to whitewash Pakistan on these tracks. However, had they lost or drawn any of these games, the boo-birds would come calling. An India vs. England Test back in February 2021 ended in roughly 140+ overs total (two days), and the criticism was that these kinds of pitches will ruin Test cricket. Fast forward to a few weeks ago, when Australia and South Africa played, and an almost similar two-day, 140+ total-over victory was deemed “interesting due to how fast the game was moving”. The Ahmedabad pitch in that 2021 game got an ‘average’ rating, while the Brisbane pitch in 2022 was deemed ‘below average’. Subcontinental Asian pitches seem to be unfairly targeted, while English and Australian are mostly off the hook by so-called experts and commentators.

Maybe a way to counter these types of pitches could be the introduction of demerit points to the countries preparing the pitches. Ultimately, the priority should be towards fairer matches, not dangerous, life-threatening pitches, always seeing a result instead of a draw, or caring about the opinions of former white cricketers-turned-commentators. Test cricket should be riveting going into the third or fourth day of the games instead of earlier. We also discussed the need for a statistical analysis of pitches through a committee in the ICC, as well as certain scenarios to put the English and Australian teams in Indian conditions (to put it lightly).

If you are interested in the rest of the conversation, please check out the links below: