Unsporting
Cricket Pitches
By Col. Riaz Jafri
(Retd.)
Westridge, Rawalpindi
A lot is being discussed on TV about
the placid pitches of Lahore and Faisalabad, which
have helped batsmen amass huge scores. A foreseeable
draw after five days of boredom is not what the
cricket fans spend their time and money for. I
am no cricket buff and it was quite revealing
for me to know that such pitches are specially
prepared in consultation with the team captains
and coaches to afford own players the so-called
‘advantage’ of home ground!
Inzamam looked pathetic when he could not defend
himself for making pitches that were not suited
to the fast bowlers that Pakistan had quite a
few. In other words, the pitch should have been
tailored for the fast bowlers and the spinners
to make Pakistan win. Is it cricket to stoop so
low that for winning a match a pitch has to be
specially prepared in such an unsportsmanlike
manner? Is it not cheating? Could it be called
in any way a level playing field?
I think the pitch should be prepared in all honesty
to afford equal opportunity to the batsman as
well as the bowler. But then the cricket would
have to be the gentlemen’s game.
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