Test cricket on the subcontinent - an unequal battle between bat and ball

The third test match between Sri Lanka and India started yesterday at Colombo PSS and surprise, surprise, the odds were once again stacked heavily against the bowlers.

Don't let the close of play score of 293 for four fool you. It was only a freak run out for Dilshan, a dreadful shot from Sangakkara and a poor umpiring decision for Jayawardene that gave India three of those wickets. This series may as well have been played in a Roman amphitheatre with the bowlers cast as the hapless christians being fed to the bat-wielding hungry lions. Then there would be blood to go with the runs.

Cricket is supposed to be an equal battle of bat and ball and is undeniably at its most fascinating when the pendulum swings back and forth between the two. But it would seem that the vast majority of pitch curators on the subcontinent (and more importantly the cricket boards providing them with their instructions) clearly don't agree.

No, the powers that be would prefer five days of gate receipts and a pointless turgid draw to three or four days of riveting action and a match that is remembered for years.  This has proved short-sighted as the crowds on the sub-continent have abandoned test cricket for one day or Twenty 20 in droves. And surely the television companies cannot be far behind? 

We did some number crunching of the last 20 tests played on the subcontinent stretching back to the Boxing Day test of 2008 at Dhaka between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and produced some worrying results:

The main findings were:

1. The average first innings score is over 400 for both the team batting first and second - surely this is too high?
2. Only twice has a team in its first innings of the match failed to get to 200 - Pakistan were all out for 90 against Sri Lanka in Galle and Bangladesh were bundled out for 178 by the same opposition in December 2008. And let's face it, these two teams would be prone to collapse on any pitch against even a half-decent Club side.
3. There have been ten team scores of 550+ during the 20 matches, which tells you just how hard life has been for the bowlers.
4. There have been 54 centuries plus nine scores of 200+, meaning that on average there are at least three scores of 100+ per match. With one double hundred coming every two matches, what should be a special moment in a batsman's career is being seriously devalued.  

Granted there have been only five draws in the 20 matches, and a handful of the tests have been absorbing - the two test series between India and South Africa comes readily to mind, but the overall trend raises a lot of concerns.

So what can be done? Well, the ICC needs to put measures in place to ensure that every test match is just that – an even battle between bat and ball that fluctuates from one to the other. Pitches should be prepared to ensure that the best exponents of each art are able to exhibit their wares.

Failing that, perhaps we can go down more unlikely routes. Grounds should be suspended from hosting tests and Boards should be sanctioned when tracks such as the one last week at Colombo SSC are produced for test cricket. Fines and points deductions have long existed in English County Cricket for pitches that tilt the balance too heavily towards the ball, so why not do something similar when the odds are stacked too much in favour of the batsman? 

Otherwise, what price a fourth stump or allowing leg befores to be given out irrespective of where the ball has pitched? Sounds ridiculous? Maybe, but the time has come to bat for the bowlers, even for a former opening batsman like the Reverse Sweep.  

Comments

[Mahek]

When the ICC has a problem with a test in the subcontinent getting over in 3 days you're bound to get high scoring games. To them a pitch that takes turn is poor while one that has swing or seam is good for test cricket. There was a test match in Ahmedabad in 2005 that got over on Day 5 and Clive Lloyd who was the match referee for that game reported the pitch wasn't good.

Looking at the average first innings score can be a bit misleading. You have to look at how quickly those runs were scored and also how the teams followed it up in the second innings, because spinners usually come into the game on the last two days. You hardly get swing in the subcontinent because conditions aren't overcast and they use the Kookaburra (Pak, SL, Ban) and the SG (Ind), neither of which swings as much or for as long as the Dukes.

[Mahek]

If you consider just the current series we got a result in essentially less than 4 days of cricket at Galle. The SSC pitch was genuinely bad, just like the one in Ahmedabad last year. I think we'll have a result at the P Sara Oval. The score at the end of day 4 also doesn't tell you how many times the spinners ripped it past the batsmen. Our bowling has been rubbish for the most part and that is why Lanka have batted four and a half sessions now.

[Marco]

Looking a bit foolish today perhaps , monsieur sweep ?

[Mahek]

Oops, I meant the score at the end of day 1.

[The Reverse Sweep]

I'm not sure about that Marco. It seems this test will indeed produce a result but I still feel that test cricket on the subcontinent would be better served by the preparation of wickets that have a better balance between bat and ball from day one.

[The Reverse Sweep]

Mahek, it looks like you are right about the likelihood of a result in the 3rd test. The ICC are wrong, of course - a pitch that helps swing, seam or spin from day one is good for test cricket providing that there is a balance between bat and ball. No doubt the stats are distorted by the fact that India and Sri Lanka are far better batting sides than they are bowling teams.

[ChepRhigh]

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