Graeme Smith voices opinion against Centurion groundsmen

In the ongoing Test series between South Africa and India, one of the biggest talking points apart from the performances has been the pitches in the two games played so far. At Newlands, it was a bowler’s paradise as we saw Vernon Philander and Bhuvneshwar Kumar demonstrate how threatening accurate medium-pace bowling can be if done right.

In the following game in Centurion, which initially looked like a belter started to deteriorate in terms of batting, it started to cater to Ravichandran Ashwin’s off-spin and then to pacers who could make good use of the bounce. Proteas skipper ahead of the second Test had mentioned that there would be grass on the Centurion pitch but there was hardly a blade of it and looked mostly brown.

Bryan Bloy, SuperSport Park’s groundsman, told Netwerk24 that the message from the Proteas camp was that they wanted a lively pitch with lots of bounce and pace. Bloy said the recent heatwave in Gauteng made preparation difficult, but that he was doing his best to adhere to the home side’s request.

However, many have voiced their opinion regarding how unlike-Centurion this pitch is. Apart from debutant Lungi Ngidi, former Proteas captain Graeme Smith has expressed his concerns about the pitch and particularly how Ashwin was the bowler with maximum overs and the most success on the pitch.

He took to Twitter to say, “A spinner bowling 31 overs on day 1 in South Africa is a joke in my opinion, groundsmen needs to be asked a lot of questions!”

A spinner bowling 31 overs on day 1 in South Africa is a joke in my opinion, groundsmen needs to be asked a lot of questions! #SAvsIndia

— Graeme Smith (@GraemeSmith49) January 13, 2018

It is true that workload on spinners was expected to be minimal here. It was to the extent that many people suggested that Ashwin make way for Ajinkya Rahane since a spinner would have little to do here. South Africa’s spinner, Keshav Maharaj got a wicket but looked nothing as threatening as Ravichandran Ashwin who picked up four wickets in the first innings. Yet, it appears like this has more to do with the prevailing dry conditions in South Africa than the work of the groundsmen.

Smith’s complain is also understandable because the home team usually gets a pitch that suits them more. But since it looked almost tailor-made for India at one point, many including Smith raised concerns. Stumps were called early on Day 3 because of bad light after an hour long delay due to rain and commentator Michael Holding rightly said, “The covers are being rushed on, but I think this pitch could use a little bit of water.”