Hell hath no fury like a Perth summer afternoon.
India’s cricketers pulled in to the WACA ground only around four o’clock but even so, there was little respite from the heat — a heat unlike any other, a piercing, charring, blowtorch blazing down from above. These are conditions far from pleasant but they’re also conditions that have nurtured the fastest cricket pitch in the world.
“Perceptions, mate, perceptions,” says Matt Page, the WACA curator, when asked if the surface has slowed down in the last decade. “The feedback I’ve got is that it’s been pretty fast.”
Perth’s World Cup will last only a week — India meets the UAE this Saturday and the West Indies on March 6 with the Australia vs. Afghanistan sandwiched in-between. It is a shame but perhaps the WACA’s relatively limited capacity (under 25,000) meant it was unlikely to host any of the knock-out matches.
Last year, the ground did not host a single Test match and amidst questions over its fitness as a venue for international cricket, there has been talk of action shifting to a new, multi-purpose stadium. Such a turn of events would be unfortunate.
For at its core, the WACA is a cricket ground, with pitches naturally grown in the turf (unlike Adelaide and Melbourne, where they’re dropped in), two grandstands, and broad, airy grass banks square of the wicket. There are no concrete blocks rising up behind the square boundaries, and there is no escaping from the sun. It is a hard, unforgiving place.
India’s training on Wednesday was only limited to football and fielding drills. It will have been draining enough, although the team was in good spirits all along, fielding contests between groups of players provoking much mirth and banter.
India will rest on Thursday before getting into the nets on Friday. The UAE may feel at home in these temperatures but India’s fast bowlers will be licking their sunburnt lips in anticipation.