The letter ‘S’ is very important when it comes to the sport of cricket. Surface (read as pitch) and Supervision (read as umpiring). In both regards, the BCCI has taken some steps. Let us consider the net outcome of these.
The formation of the Pitch & Grounds Committee was meant to create competitive pitches. However, the results have been such that even the best pitch readers feel lost.
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Makarand Waingankar The net result of the committee is that pitch preparation has become standardised to an extent and in some cases has marginally improved.
However, the measure of this improvement has become the ability of a centre to deliver ‘home advantage’. Curators were forced to doctor pitches to achieve this.
Quality takes backseat The worst part is that the head of the Pitches & Grounds Committee reportedly issued written instructions to all the staging associations of the India–South Africa series to prepare pitches which would aid Indian spinners.
It seems that the motto is to win at all costs and quality can come second. This was witnessed in the first Test in Mohali.
This is not new. In 60s and 70s, when India had top quality spinners, after one over each from non-regular bowlers bowling military medium pace, the balls turned at right angles from over there. When India toured, the same spinners struggled to a considerable extent.
A Test match pitch is expected to help fast/medium-pacers on the first two days and then, due to wear and tear, assist the spinners. This way both batsmen and bowlers get equal chances to make an impact on the match.
If this is not the case, teams may exploit home advantage but will be exposed overseas and will never be great sides.
The scene has not changed much from the 60s & 70s. With half a dozen legends in the team, the Indians were pathetic in England and Australia in 2011, after winning the World Cup.
Instead of improving the skill-level of players, the think-tank of the Indian team, without realising the repercussions of its decision on the team’s overseas performances, has opted to exploit the ‘home advantage.’ So, we see South Africans struggling against Indian spinners. When India tours South Africa, we will struggle on bouncy tracks.
How does this help Test cricket?
While the Pitch & Grounds Committee was meant to address pitch preparation issues; the BCCI, inviting Simon Taufel, the renowned ICC umpire, to educate Indian umpires was meant to address the second S.
However, instead of improving, the standard of umpiring seems to have slipped.
One suspects that the qualification process is faulty and that the rating of umpires is highly manipulated.
Some umpires do manage to get promoted and get plum assignments — at the cost of some very good umpires. And majority of umpires, not having played good first class cricket, make blunders.
The only solution one can think of is to get former first-class cricketers involved in umpiring.
In the 80s the BCCI invited a few former Test cricketers for oral examination. /Bishan Singh Bedi, Yashpal Sharma, Maninder Singh, Parthasarathy Sharma, and a few others appeared.
Says Bedi, “I was really inspired by Venkatraghavan. I wanted to be an umpire. ”
During the oral examination, Bedi was asked the question, ‘Will you give bat-pad out?” Angered by the ‘stupid’ question, he told the examiner, “You have been giving batsmen out and continue to do so. I will do the same” The examiner promptly proceeded to put a cross against Bedi’s name but others who cleared the examination did earn the respect of active players.
The BCCI needs to take strong steps in both aspects — quality of pitches and umpiring. Otherwise, the situation will continue to deteriorate and numbers will never reflect the quality of a team.
Docking points from teams in domestic matches for doctoring pitches, as is the practice in county cricket in England, and getting former first class players involved in umpiring would be a good start and will send out the right message.
