What have I done to deserve such broadside – can not think independently, …

Let me reiterate, I rarely do have the opportunity (due to time zone diifference) to listen to Ian Chapppel. If our opinions coincide very good. BTW, I wish I could play the front foot hook shot like Ian Chappell.

Headingly has been a great pitch for swing bowlers over the years – with the overcast conditions. IIRC, Sunil Gavaskar considers his century at Headingly against John Snow as one of his best centuries.

Perth happens to he a bouncy track that favors fast bowlers over the last 30 years.

Once upon a time, Chennai was a spinning track. EAS and BS Chandrasekar took a lot of wickets. Now Chennai is a flat batting track like the Faisalabad wicket.

Mumbai produced a track for Australia home series in which the much maligned Murali Karthik took 6 wickets. Is that wicket representative of Mumbai wicket over the years.

I wasn’t clear and apologies for that. I used the term “Ian Chappell” to signify a class of people that whined about spin pitches being detrimental to the game and coined phrases such as “doctored pitches”, “dust bowls” and “dry vicious turners”. These were guys that were traditionally “incompetent at playing spin but spoke loudly”.

Loud enough for a class of people called “gnbmdr” to start believing the myths that they had so created without thinking things through clearly enough for themselves.

There is nothing wrong with a slow-low-turner or a dust-bowl. Just as there is nothing wrong with a “grassy, juicy pitch that offers true bounce”.

There is nothing wrong with opening the bowling with a spinner just as there is nothing wrong with opening with a pace bowler who hurls the ball at 900kmph.

The “Ian Chappell” will earn his whine-rights if he starts calling for a new pitch at Perth that is dropped in from Mumbai.

Indeed, we ought to be celebrating these varied differences and the “gnbmdr” ought to think for themselves, no doubt after listening to, BOTH the “Ian Chappell” as well as the “Gavaskar”.

– Mohan

Thanks for you reply.

I’ll mull over your points before I continue the debate but one thing about your reply is the reference to Ian Chappell. He certainly seems to have given you a bad case of the irrits

As much as I respect his knowledge & skills in regard to cricket I can assure my opinions are all my own work. Unskilled labour perhaps but definitely my efforts.

I would also suggest that you check out his record against spin. As I recall with a sprained ankle against Gibbs on a dusty “fifth day” turner in the Windies he got Australia to victory. In recognition the crowd chanted amen.

He could play spin.

Its a “test” — as the name goes, a test of one’s skills and talent. It would be really boring to imagine every wicket to behave like that in Perth, there is a loss of variety out there.

Its plain crass that we ought to imitate what Ian Chappell would tell us. He is a legend, but he too is a mortal … lets not forget that.

And Pav, your case states that you have been deprived of two days of quality test match cricket. Why don’t you say the same at Jo’burg — you had a little more than 3 days of cricket there ? Or mebbe Motera ? Its as even a contest as it always has been. All those matches which have been drawn have been as unequal as those which finished early (this is to make things simplied in your thought).

Rest in peace … its was a good series … and there’s no way that one can devalue any of the victories anywhere !!!

So what if Rahul Dravid got out to an unplayable ball? That’s what Test Cricket is about. More power to the bowler!

All I am saying is that it is about time people around the world stopped talking about pitches and started talking about technique instead.

This is not about home-pitches and away-pitches either.

And unless Perth imports a drop-in pitch from Mumbai, let’s please stop talking about home-team advantage.

I personally do not want Kanpur to be the same year after year! Lords’ is the same year after year? Well, that would be boring and predictable wouldn’t it? We could send 11 robots to play there then!

– Mohan

With the matches in India played during our night time, I barely get to watch an hour or two. So, I am not influenced by Ian Chappell.

OK, it is fair to have spinning track, that assists spinners. That is a good measure of how well a batsman can play spin bowling.

1. What about uneven bounce. Rahul Dravid was injured and Laxman got out to an impossible ball.

2. Will Kanpur wicket be the same for the next test match to be played a year or two from now ?

Lords is the same year after year .

I understand home field advantage to suit spin bowling. That is fine. But it is good to have well-prepared wickets with true bounce.

England has to be an exception in their winter.
India, Pakistan, Windies, NZ, SA and australia can play this home and away series from October to March without footy or rugby games on the big stadiums. Bangladesh can have 1 home test and 1 away test–that is all they deserve