jakarta
Well-known member
Salt now bowling, I know there are traditions in County Cricket but FFS!
Agreed. It is completely baffling.
I know things have moved on from the old days when Hadlee and Rice might do the final "mowing" of the pitch at Trent Bridge but, like you, I thought this pitch would have been prepared with a definite result in mind. The groundsman obviously knows the game, and the league position, so he wouldn't need to be told.
Clearly there was no such attempt made this week and I can't think the pitch is anything like what Sussex would have wanted.
Does anyone know? Is the groundsman completely separate from the rest of the club and produces the best pitch he can regardless of Sussex's situation? Is it more difficult than we think to do it in any case? What would have been the prescription to create a "result" pitch? Damp and grassy? Dry and bare? There might be rules about how moisture content has to be managed in the lead up to a game? Are the result pitches elsewhere just down to bad circumstances or are they deliberately underprepared?
The loss at Durham put us out of the race.