Why is it so hard to get better pitches in WI

Why is it so hard to get better pitches in WI

Vinode Mamchan
Published: Guardian
Saturday, June 13, 2015

Antigua cricket pitch

I cannot understand for the life of me why it is so difficult to get better pitches in the Caribbean. Everyone from the president of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to the taxi driver taking you to the cricket knows that one of the major problems in West Indies cricket is the state of the pitches across the region.

I am currently at Sabina Park in Jamaica, where the pitch used to be very quick and gave rewards to anyone who was willing to put in the work. When the Test match got off back in the day, you could have seen your reflection on the pitch, the ball came on nicely, that encouraged shot making and the pacers all licked their chops because they got nice bounce and pace. Even the spinners got assistance is terms of that extra bounce.

Now when you look at cricket here, it is more of a graft. The slow nature of the pitch does not encourage positive play and the bowlers have the toil for rewards. While, there is nothing wrong in having to toil for rewards, but at the end of the day it may not be attractive for the fans to look at. 

The interesting fact about the entire pitch situation in the West Indies is that the WICB’s bosses have spoken time and time again about the poor state of the pitches. Yet nothing seems to be done about improving the state of them. I have spoken to many players about the pitches they have to work with and the local guys in Trinidad have preference for the pitch at the Sir Frank Worrell Ground at UWI Spec in St Augustine.

They tell me that the bounce and pace is nice and the ball comes unto the bat for good shot making. As the match progresses, the spinners are allowed to come into their own and hence on this surface your talent will get reward.

We have bowlers in the region who take plenty wickets on the slow tacks and then get selected for the West Indies team and can’t even buy a wicket. We have heard the batsmen in the region being criticised for not scoring ‘big’ runs. We look at Adam Voges of Australia who made his debut at age of 35, having scored over 10,000 First Class runs and then we look at Rajindra Chandrika who is playing his first Test, having never scored a First Class century. Well, I can tell you this, if Voges had to bat on our tracks regularly his batting figures would not be as flattering as it is.

I think if nothing is being done about the pitches people need to ask why and put pressure on the authorities in order to get them moving. I intend to do a series, just as I had done about the structure of local cricket very soon. I am going to seek out the Soil Science Professor at the UWI, Dr Gaius Eudoxie, and hopefully we can do a series on rejuvenating pitches and it falls on the right ears.

Dr Eudoxie is a research specialist in soil physical condition and alteration under various land uses. He might just be the right man to point the WICB in the right path as far as pitches are concerned.

I see the T&T Cricket Board has found a good man in terms of pitch preparation in Shaker Mano. He had worked on the UWI SPEC pitch and is now at the National Cricket Centre in Couva. That pitch was the typical slow type and since his arrival at Balmain, it is pointing in the direction of going fast. It will take some time but at least it is the right move.

The WICB in my humble view needs to put together a committee to deal with the state of pitches in the Caribbean and have one man heading the group and moving from island to island with specialist knowledge and tailoring the pitches according to the soil types in the particular country.

On that committee, we must find space for soil science experts so that meaningful contributions can be made and a situation of having a committee for just having one, does not obtain.

Once we put the pitches in place there is sure to be some improvement in the quality of cricketers coming through. Development of West Indies cricket involves improving many facets with the state of pitches being a crucial one.