Editorial by K.C.S. Rao
Despite all apprehensions about the readiness of the pitches at Woodley Park, SCCA started their 2011 season League matches as scheduled on Saturday, April 2, 2011. Yes, the grounds man was hired just a few days prior to the start of the league. The outfield had, in some grounds, ankle high grass and in others enough to retard the smooth traveling of the ball to the boundary. Perhaps the SCCA thought that ‘something is better than nothing’ and wanted to start the league on the scheduled date. But, at the same time, they forgot that ‘nothing is better than nonsense’. Here are some of the written comments by a couple of teams who played on the first day (April 2, 2011) at Woodley:
“Pitch and outfield were nothing like we have seen at Woodley in the past. Pitch had many uneven spots and the outfield was like playing in a flower garden. Citrus won the toss and chose to bat on an unpredictable pitch”
“Vijayta won the toss and elected to bat in this season opener on a soft and uneven wicket and to top it off on a soggy outfield.”
“The wicket looked hard and flat but there was a tinge of green and the outfield, although recently cut, was still a little long and damp. It was hard work batting in the opening session.”
“On a cool crisp day Vijayta and Hollywood showed that their bats were chilling too. It was all about bowling and fielding on a 2 paced wicket.”
Our interview with other teams that played at Woodley grounds on the first two weeks of the season (16 games) revealed that the pitch was slow and had uneven bounce. The ball was not coming on to the bat thus restricting the stroke makers from playing the shots.
With the two nets available for practice being what they are, players did not have much practice. The unprepared wickets added to the misery of the batsmen.
Needless to mention the effect of inadequate and/or no practice has on the bowlers as well. No team or a bowler is an exception to this. In Division I, in the three matches played so far, 112 wides were bowled besides the no balls.
In Division II, in the six matches played so far, 204 wides were bowled besides the no balls. A team that practices regularly at Woodley nets bowled 17 wides and 11 wides in their first two matches. This could be attributed to the poor conditions, particularly at the bowlers’ run up area at these nets prevents them from getting any rhythm going.
Reducing the league from 50 to 45-over game seems to have no bearing as every team is playing more number of overs than the allotted 45-overs with the excessive number of wides and no balls being bowled in virtually every game.
SCCA seems to have got their priorities mixed up in that they hurriedly fixed the roof at the two pavilion stands in Wong and Marder fields. The priority should have been to fix the practice nets (badly needed prior to the season started) and to prepare the wickets prior to the league started. It is understood that they have no control over some delays in fixing the existing nets. An alternative could have been thought of, such as getting the nets between Marder and Wong fields ready for practice by rolling the practice area and putting a coir mat, as a temporary measure. We only hope that within the next two weeks the wickets and the outfield at all the four grounds will be worthy of playing good cricket.
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