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How do You Prepare a Wicket Suitable for Swing?

 
Walco 2019-01-09 12:20:32 

The Author of this Article Must be a Poster on Here

South Africa coach Ottis Gibson has defended the preparation of pitches suited to seam and swing after the facilities in the first two Tests at Centurion and Newlands came in for criticism from Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur.

 
natty_forever 2019-01-09 12:57:02 

Aficionados?

 
Norm 2019-01-09 13:22:22 

smile

Hip-hop, maybe. Even salsa, but ... swing? Naaah!

 
carl0002 2019-01-09 13:39:38 

You cant prepare a wicket suitable for swing. You can prepare a wicket suitable for seam movement.

Swing has to do with atmospheric conditions and condition of the ball. Nothing to do with the wicket. Swing is through the air.

Seam is off the wicket.

 
Conorboy 2019-01-09 14:11:22 

What if you leave a lot of moisture in the pitch and as the sun warms the pitch the moisture will rise leaving the ball to swing

 
Str8_Drive 2019-01-09 15:36:47 

In reply to Walco

would an abrasive pitch , wear the ball in such a way that swing could also come into play ?

 
Norm 2019-01-09 15:42:46 

In reply to Conorboy

Good point, but the layer of moisture would be very thin - about a foot above the ground at most. The ball needs to start deviating far higher than that to deceive the batsman.

The bowler's skill has a lot to do with it. The women were swinging the ball, prodigiously in some cases, at just about 105 kph, in hot and dry conditions in the recent Women's World Cup in the Caribbean.

 
Kay 2019-01-09 15:49:39 

In reply to Norm

Women are always better "swingers" than men... smile

 
natty_forever 2019-01-09 16:11:11 

In reply to Kay

shock

 
Walco 2019-01-10 06:19:46 

In reply to natty_forever

I read that first sentence and my first thought was that either Ottis is a dunce or the author of the article is a dunce. It turns out the author is the dunce because there is no quote in the article from Gibson that even remotely suggests that he believes a wicket can be prepared for swing smile

 
Walco 2019-01-10 06:24:00 

In reply to carl0002

You cant prepare a wicket suitable for swing. You can prepare a wicket suitable for seam movement.

Exactly. You can also prepare a wicket for pace and bounce or for spin, but how can you prepare a wicket for something that happens before the ball comes in contact with the wicket?

 
Walco 2019-01-10 06:33:38 

In reply to Conorboy

Interesting question. It would a new meaning to the words "late swing" smile Even if what you query were possible, how much moisture can be left without preparing a sticky wicket? And how long would the moisture last? First hour of the first day? Maybe first 2 hours? What if SA prepared a wicket with this moisture and lose the toss and bat first? Risky proposition I say cool

 
Walco 2019-01-10 06:40:23 

In reply to Str8_Drive

would an abrasive pitch , wear the ball in such a way that swing could also come into play ?

Another interesting question. A very abrasive pitch would help the ball to reverse swing earlier. But the Saffies apparently have not perfected this art as yet because Smith and Warner felt it was necessary to bring sandpaper onto the field during the match in South Africa last year that got them banned smile

 
CricketLuva4 2019-01-10 07:27:16 

You can't prepare a pitch for swing, as it is atmospheric conditions that dictate that.

But a greener pitch, which is less abrasive, will keep the ball shiny longer and hence allow the ball to conventionally swing longer.

A rough, abrasive pitch may rough up the ball, negating conventional swing, but may facilitate reverse swing.

 
WICFan 2019-01-10 07:39:49 

A pitch with swing conditions is more to do with the cloud & moisture conditions, the shine of the ball can play a part in it too.

I remember a test a few years back in South Africa, West Indies batted first and got bowled out cheaply in cloudy conditions.

By the time the change of innings and break in play etc the cloud cover had mostly gone and South Africa piled on the runs.

 
djdrastic 2019-01-10 07:46:39 

Been raining like crazy in Joburg for the last week.

Outfield might be heavy tomorrow morning.
Sunshine expected from Friday with the occasional T-storm.