P Sara curator has been instructed to prepare a good Test wicket following the Indian skipper’s comments on the SSC pitch; venue for the third Test is also a Lankan fortress.
There has been a lot of hue and cry over the featherbed produced for the second Test by the curator of the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC). The 22-yard strip came in for a lot of criticism after nearly 1,500 runs were scored and the match ended in a draw. And that too at a time when the cricketing fraternity is looking for ways to save Test cricket from the Twenty20 onslaught.
India skipper MS Dhoni blasted the SSC pitch at the post-match conference by calling it “unsporting” and “placid”. As many as five batsmen reached the three-figure mark, while eight bowlers gave away more than 100 runs.
“On this kind of a wicket, 99.9 per cent of the time you will not get a result. For me, a sporting wicket doesn’t mean the one that seams around but it has to have bounce,” Dhoni had said on Friday.
“This was a placid track and there was nothing in it.”
The good news, however, is that Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has taken note of the visiting captain’s concerns. A top SLC official has told curator Anuruddha Polonowita that the strip for the 3rd Test, to be played at the P Sara Stadium here from August 3-7, should be “good for Test cricket”.
“I agree with what he (Dhoni) said. The SSC wicket was not a good Test wicket. A wicket where there is no result is poor,” SLC chief executive officer Nishantha Ranatunga told DNA on Saturday.
“We have taken that (Dhoni’s concerns) into consideration. We will be cautious for the next Test. I have asked the curator to make a good Test wicket which should produce a result. However, I haven’t instructed him to make a spinner or seamer-friendly pitch,” he added.
Meanwhile, Polonowita was quoted by a cricket website as saying that, “There will be more life in this (P Sara) pitch for both fast bowlers and spinners. This will be a much better pitch (than SSC) for bowlers. With regard to batting, if one fellow puts his head down and bats, he will score.”
Of the last five Tests played at this venue, the home side has tasted victory on every occasion. And that includes their victory over Anil Kumble’s boys in 2008. Sangakkara’s century and Ajantha Mendis’s eight-wicket haul had helped Sri Lanka win the Test and with it the series 2-1.
The P Sara Stadium has hosted 14 Tests (since 1982) in all. Ten of those have produced results. Sri Lanka have won seven Tests here. The touring sides to have tasted victory here are England (1982), Pakistan (1993) and Australia (2002).
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}