The wicket for Melbourne.

[Leekbrookgull]

Maybe i am missing something here (?) from what i understand a wicket is being 'dropped into the square' as opposed to being grown. Now from what i read/hear the 'experts' expect a slow grassy wicket like adeliade,now just where has that line of thinking come from ? Surely the ACB and Ponting will do everything in their power to get a hard & fast wicket like Perth so Johnson & Harris can gain maximum advantage ?

 

[Stumpy Tim]

I don't think they've had enough time to recreate that Perth pitch...it takes longer than a week. The conditions in Melbourne don't help either. Interestingly, heavy rain is forecast for pretty much the whole Sydney test so Melbourne could be the one that decides it

 

[vegster]

Er, no... cricket grounds have a number of pitches[ on The Square in various states of preparation. this is achieved by the simple expedient of a combination of watering,resting,grass cutting and rolling. The pitch which was going to be used for the Melbourne test has simply been swapped, ie,the attention from the groundsmen has been transfered to a pitch which ,the Aussies hope, will be more bouncy and fast after our capitulation on the fast and bouncy WACA wicket.so we move maybe 20 yards to the left or right of the original pitch.... you have not been charged for this information..

 

[Helter]

Just seen it on sky. Hope it backfires big time and we win the ashes and Ponting gets the sack. I class what they are doing as cheating.

 

[seagullwedgee]

two stories are being confused here.

I went to the MCG four years ago when we got trounced. Because the MCG is used for Aussie rules football they literally deliver the finished wickets on huge pallets and drop them into the square, all pristine and perfect. That is standard procedure for the MCG, and they do it incredibly well.

What's happened this time is that they have dropped the test wicket into the wrong slot on the square, meaning that all the television cameras have had to be moved slightly so they are directly in line with the intedned wicket. Mike Atherton heard that the cameras were being moved a bit, and assumed that they had decided to use a different strip, thereby concluding sone sharp practice was at play.

But all that happend was that they dropped the strip into the wrong slot. Nothing to see here, now move along.

 

[Helter]

Er, no... cricket grounds have a number of pitches[ on The Square in various states of preparation. this is achieved by the simple expedient of a combination of watering,resting,grass cutting and rolling. The pitch which was going to be used for the Melbourne test has simply been swapped, ie,the attention from the groundsmen has been transfered to a pitch which ,the Aussies hope, will be more bouncy and fast after our capitulation on the fast and bouncy WACA wicket.so we move maybe 20 yards to the left or right of the original pitch.... you have not been charged for this information..

What you talking about man. It's the same soil, same grass.

 

[mcshane in the 79th]

Just seen it on sky. Hope it backfires big time and we win the ashes and Ponting gets the sack. I class what they are doing as cheating.

What? Why? Every home team alters the pitch to suit themselves

 

[vegster]

What you talking about man. It's the same soil, same grass.

oh dear, cricket virgin alert

 

[Helter]

What? Why? Every home team alters the pitch to suit themselves

Do they?

 

[Helter]

oh dear, cricket virgin alert

Oh f*** off dork, been playing Cricket for 30 years, dick.

 

[Leekbrookgull]

Well if the wicket is anything like at Perth,we are done for !

 

[HAILSHAM SEAGULL]

It wont be

 

[mcshane in the 79th]

Do they?

Of course they do. Alistair Cook has even come out and said the same thing

 

[vegster]

Oh f*** off dork, been playing Cricket for 30 years, dick.

Ha ha .. and you don't know how a wicket is prepared ? yet, you call ME a dick ? aw bless, you must have hit the sherry trifle pre-christmas

 

[Helter]

Of course they do. Alistair Cook has even come out and said the same thing

Is that why Geoff boycott told him in the commentary he’s talking utter tosh about his comments on about we’ve taking some positives out our defeat.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

World Series Cricket in the 1970s had to bring in pre-prepared wickets from outside and drop them into holes in the ground, because they could not get access to the official test grounds and played in some new and unfamiliar (for cricket) arenas, so its not new.

And yes, every home team tries to prepare wickets to suit their own strengths. This is not cheating - just playing to your own inbuilt advantage - a bit like fotball teams adjusting the width of the pitch depending on the abilities of the wingers, or watering the ground until it resembles a bog to remove the flair players.

 

[Paddy B]

Is that why Geoff boycott told him in the commentary he’s talking utter tosh about his comments on about we’ve taking some positives out our defeat.

Boycott accusing Cook of talking utter tosh!!! Does anyone see the irony here?

 

[The French Mistress]

Will it be on ?

 

[Leekbrookgull]

It will be. Trust i am a doctor.

 

[Flavor Flav]

Can't have any complaints, we did completely f*** up the Oval's pitch in 2009 for our benefit.