Problem Statement

How often do we hear that match results are/were hugely influenced by the type and condition of the pitches?

Almost everybody (except maybe the winner occasionally) complains about the ‘Poor’ pitches

03 Mar 23:  Indore Pitch rated as 'Poor'

It is not a recent phenomenon. For instance, the 3rd test match played between India and South Africa in 2015 was also a real example. (Nagpur pitch rated as Poor by ICC match referee)

Even the flat pitches, like in the most recent test match between Australia and India in Ahmedabad, are good for nothing except individual batting records. This problem exists in many countries and is quite severe in Australia.

“I see flat pitches as a huge problem for the health of Cricket. I’ve said this for 10, 15 or 20 years, for the health of Test cricket, first-class Cricket and even one-day Cricket, you want to play on wickets where there’s a contest between bat and ball” – Justin Langer (Australia Head Coach, Dec 2019)

Melbourne Cricket Ground gets official ICC warning for 'poor' pitch

Even otherwise, pitch quality varies so much in different places that often the “skills of the curators”, rather than the skills of players, decide the game’s fate.

Insights from other Sports

In other games, like Hockey, AstroTurf fields are now commonplace, and it has helped not only the game and spectators but also the players and team managers.

This is because the players can focus and hone their capabilities and skills related to the sport itself, rather than they or team managers trying to optimize the skills of choosing a particular field (to ensure a win for the home team, as often is still the case with Cricket).

Appeal and Potential Solution

Therefore, we, the Cricket fans, appeal to ICC (and urge BCCI, CA and ECB, to take lead roles and support this initiative) to reduce the “underserved” importance of curators* in deciding the outcomes.

We demand that  

1. Rather than relying only on a post-match Pitch Monitoring Process, the quality of pitches for international (and premier leagues) matches (Test, ODI, T-20) be standardized in a time-bound manner (say, 2-3 years).

2. If need be, there could be 2 or 3 types of pitches, similar to the Tennis Courts such as grass/hard courts (but again, standardized among those types) and series/tournaments to be held using a judicious mix of various kinds of pitches.

3. ICC (and may be other influential members, such as BCCI, Cricket Australia, England and Wales Cricket Board, etc.) provide financial and technical support to associate members to comply with these requirements. 

4. If the materials/ technology for such a standardized pitch are unavailable at the moment, immediately commence a research project and develop a standard pitch(es) within 6-12 months.  

Thank you,

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*Please note that we have nothing against the good services provided by the various skilled curators worldwide, but we want to ensure that the money and time we pay are spent on enjoying the players' skills and not the skills of curators, per se.