Bring up junior cricketers on matting pitches

Comparisons are odious, but excellent fodder for discussion. The nation is obsessed with the Don Bradman-Sachin Tendulkar comparison.

Both Bradman and Tendulkar played in different eras with different sets of rules and playing conditions.

Bradman played on uncovered pitches sans restriction on field setting, bouncer and beamer. Bowlers were allowed to drag their backfoot.

Tendulkar plays in an era of covered pitches, restrictions on leg-side fields, no beamers and limit on number of bouncers. More importantly bowlers are not allowed to drag the backfoot. What can clinch the issue in this case is the percentage of matches each of them won for their country.

Important issue

By focusing merely on comparison we tend to ignore one important issue. What bothers the cricketing fraternity in India is that despite all the protective gear that Indian batsmen don, extra bounce rattles them. Hence some Indian players left for South Africa much early to practice, but a perennial problem can't be sorted out in a week.

Talking to former cricketers brought up on matting one feels the only way forward is to play junior cricket on matting. The extra bounce that matting affords makes the batsman take the correct position all the time whereas on turf the bounce is predictable.

The argument against is that international cricket is played on turf.

However, batsmen who played on matting in their formative years counter that adjusting from matting to turf is easier than turf to matting.

Batsmen who have played on matting pitches develop the ability to play on the back-foot so essential for higher class of cricket. But on docile turf pitches in India with hardly any bounce all that batsmen have to do is thrust the front foot forward and hit through the line.

Anshuman Gaekwad, who played his junior cricket on matting, was never perturbed by any of the quicks and Dilip Vengsarkar confesses he enjoyed playing on matting when he played outside Mumbai because he enjoyed the bounce. Both played the likes of Michael Holding and Malcolm Marshall with great finesse.

Scintillating knocks

Some of the scintillating knocks of Gundappa Viswanath, especially the knock of 97 against the ferocious West Indies attack at Chepauk in 1974, had a scientific foundation because he played cricket on matting. A batsman brought up on matting has a greater range of strokes than one who has played on turf.

At international level it is that extra swing, pace or bounce that troubles the batsmen. Ever since we got rid of matting, Indian batsmen have been struggling against these ‘odds.'

Gaekwad has been India coach and presently coaches Gujarat. He feels the modern medium pacers look for reverse swing when the ball loses shine. But when playing on matting the bowlers tend to bowl cutters which, unfortunately, no modern bowler is able to bowl.

The BCCI must have a think on the surfaces that junior cricket is played on. The home advantage factor encourages the association to tinker with the pitch preparation based on its strengths. In matting such manipulation is rarely possible. Teenagers will learn to play fast bowling and the bowlers will have to develop skills. Batsmen will learn to handle bounce more confidently, and the more they play on matting the better they will get. It is a radical change but worth trying. We are likely to witness more feisty cricket if we encourage matting pitches.