The reality is that West Indies players find it difficult to adapt to different pitches and environments which was evident in the three-match One Day International series loss to Australia at Kensington Oval, says Barbados and England cricketer Roland Butcher.

“I find that our players find it difficult to adapt to different surfaces, environments, and different situations. The reason for that is there are a lot of technical deficiencies within our play particularly in the longer format of the game. Whether it is 50 over or Test match cricket.

“There is quite a lot being made of the pitches, that the pitches are not ideal for stroke-making. But it is the same for both teams, both teams have to adapt and play the best they can on those pitches,” Butcher told Barbados TODAY.

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Eff dat....there is no excuse for substandard pitches at international venues.

Why are the players always the default target?

In reply to Narper

Windians are incapable of preparing and reading a pitch! It’s sheer guesswork and luck whenever it works to our advantage!

In reply to Narper

He is correct. That's why we suck at the longer versions of the game. Test or ODIs. No pitch is 100 % ideal for the home team. Both teams play on the same pitch prepared.

In reply to buds

That is NO REASON to accept and normalise mediocrity in pitch preparation

In reply to buds

You chaps are too concerned about winning the small battles instead of focusing on winning the war! It’s in the best interest of West Indies long term plans to have proper pitches.

Everyone did not perform up to ideal international standards, the WI batmen should have batted better, but the ground's preparer had over a year with an idle ground and all he produced were pitches that behaved like if Test matches were just played on them a few days ago.

In reply to StumpCam

I'll agree with you, the wicket was below par but what Roland Butcher is suggesting is that good cricketers should be able to succeed in different conditions.

Batsmen find a way to make runs when the pitch is not ideal for batting and bowlers find a way to take wickets when the pitch is not ideal for bowling.

In reply to StumpCam

How about preparing proper batsmen? We cannot always have feather beds.

Considering all circumstances, the condition of the pitch may not have been ideal but still not unreasonable for either batsmen or bowlers.

In reply to buds

I look at it two ways.
1. If pitches are not up to international standards, say so.
2. Batsman should also be reminded of their flaws and strength.
In that last series, not one team scored 275 runs, which is the norm in 50 overs, both captains spoke about the nature of the surfaces.
The Aussie coach after the last match, said he was surprised by the Kensington pitches, knowing how fast there were.

In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com

Absolutely agree... ability to adapt to different playing conditions.....makes a team superior to others....both teams knew that it's used pitch.... would spin.... being host ,we should have done better....the Aussie with their 2nd tier players beat us....our Captain complaining about pitch...speak volumes about managements of two teams

In reply to Onionman0

Nobody asks Messi to play on a cow pasture then questions his ability to ADAPT!!!

In reply to Narper

Agree and the curators should be help accountable for such pitches.

However, as an international cricketer blaming the pitch is just a flawed attempt to cast blame for their own failures to read and adapt to the conditions. It was not so long ago that men were playing test cricket on uncovered pitches! Who did the blame when things go sour? Nature?

In reply to Halliwell

I was about to post something similar about Bolt!

In reply to StumpCam

I believe they have fast and slow tracks in sprints. On a slow track Bolt would still win. He would not set a world record but he would win. He wouldn't lose and make excuses.

In reply to Fivestar

You’re missing the point! Does bolt run barefoot on grass when in the Caribbean and then go run on cork tracks around the world???
BTW, didn’t that English Jamaican footballer Raheem Sterling make a similar point about Jamaican football pitches not too long ago???

In reply to openning

I hear what you are saying and I agree we should have pitches that are of standard for international play but, just like in any sport a batsman should be able to adapt to the pitch. Not expect the norm/feather beds all the time.

In reply to buds

Where did anyone ask for a featherbed?

The Australian spinner said the following:

Looks like there are a lot of umpires posting here ...

A shite wicket is a shite wicket and insular views cannot change that. Yes both teams have to play on the same wicket but is that really cricket where the batsman is unsure what to do as the ball can keep low or fly high or spin like crazy?
We can talk about adapt all we like but how many players can really adapt this much and for long periods? What do we have 12 international teams? That is 132 players. How many of them can adapt consistently? Maybe 5 or 6. So where does that leave cricket?
And here is the next problem pressure, stress and mental issues are now rising in sports. Look at the Osaka and Biles. Is Hetty next?
And sensible countries, recently England and India have prepared pitches that suit their players. These ODIs were important as points were available to move us up in the standings. If we had any sense, the pitches should have supported our strengths and not the opposite.

In reply to bobby

What are our strengths? In st Lucia against RSA we complained the pitch was too bouncy favouring the saffies

In reply to bobby

Pitch preparation in the WI has always been hit and miss...

Foreign teams have 'read' WI pitches more accurately than WI team management or even more accurately de damn curator who prepared them.

WI never utilize any home advantage they may get from the pitch.

In reply to StumpCam
Agreed. The pitch made it a bit of a crap shoot. Poorly prepared pitches have been killing our cricket for years, making regional spinners into giant killers and breaking the backs of our pacers, all the while turning out batsman impotent against shotpitched bowling.

In reply to Halliwell

Surely, footballers do play in different conditions...soggy under foot condition, snow covered...high altitude stadiums, freezing temperatures....the set of footballers, who adapts best wins Uefa Cups etc.....be that as it may....we were demolished in the first match by Starc and Hazelwood.....2nd match Akeal reduced Aussie to 46 for 6....... therefrom Aussie recovered to 180 odd.....we somehow managed to beat them.....3rd one.... Aussie adopted well ....aslo strategies better than us...lost first one due to pace......last one due to spin....in between won partly because of spin..... instead of accepting failure.....blaming pitch.....

In reply to buds

Proper batsmen cannot be prepared on cow pastures.

butcher is absolutely write the pitch had nothing to do with them dismissals but the insularists don't want to hear that they need to blame a pitch instead on criticizing their favourite players like the hetmyer ,pollards or poorans

In reply to Narper

Bingo!!

In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com

Well he would never complain about the mediocre wickets kensington put on......which they have been doing for years( like
the wicket that was sanctioned after the Pakistan test by the ICC). Its only pollard had the balls to call it what it was......a wicket unsuitable for international cricket

In reply to Narper

Exactly

In reply to Onionman0

Stupid comparison. Footballers and football administrations most times cannot control weather conditions that will impact a football game. BUT you can damn well control the preparation and maintenance of a cricket pitch. You guys are silly

In reply to Logic

I would not call it a poorly prepared pitch, from the knowledge I've gained the last 10 years, as a Starter on a very very private golf course.
These pitches have not been played on in a while, I doubt any preparation when into the surfaces during the pandemic.
prof Edwards may have done the best he could, with the limited time he had.
The pitches in St Lucia and Grenada, cricket was played on them, both Island played local cricket, the last time local club cricket was played in Barbados was 2019.

In reply to Narper

Not exactly true.

Evidenced by last England test tour to the Caribbean.

That said…..if anything..Pollard, Simmo and the management team may well be second guessing their decision to drop Jason Mohammed in favour of the extra batsman.

And let me be clear….Jason Mohammed is by no stretch of the imagination any kind of front line spinner. And he was very lucky to be in the squad in the first place.

BUT

Color commentator Jamal on the radio broadcast made the obersvation that finger spinners on that track…..much more so than a wrist spinner….would be more effective. This turned out to be an astute and accurate observation on his part.

And on the subject of commentary, I found this Jamal guy really insightful and knowledgeable. He’s one of the better “new” commentators I’ve heard recently.

Contrast to when the matches were held in St Lucia. Reds Pereira is a legend and has done much for WI cricket over the years….and his commentary was welcome, if a little dated. But his counterparts in that series were woeful. Lawd!

Narper:

Totally agree with the above statement.

Buds:
With all due respect Buds, you are missing the point. Roland Butcher is also missing the point with a flawed argument.

NZ does not hide the fact that when playing at home their pitches are prepared not to favour the opposition.

India makes no effort to hide the fact that when playing at home their pitches are prepared not to favour the opposition.

Why should the WI players be the default target when playing at home? Why should WI players have to adapt to pitch conditions that favour the opposition while playing at home? What is wrong with preparing a proper cricket pitch on the grounds you have control over?

In reply to problemjay

It's not about control or uncontrol of pitches......it's about adaptability to varied conditions by players...in every professional sports ability to adapt plays very important role...it may be pitches, weather,water temperature etc..........you overcome odds to be winner.... Aussie beat us ... with pace,spin, strategy and Adaptability....... easiest way for us to cover up our failures is to blame pitches....lost t South Africa ..... 1st test in seaming conditions..... decimated in 1st ODI by faster men.....our curators perplexed as to what pitch our players can play

In reply to Onionman0

Here is a simple question for you. Do you believe the pitch is suitable or acceptable for cricket? especially International cricket

Follow up question for you. So unlike the silly uncontrollable weather comparison you mentioned earlier, do you believe something should be done about the poor pitch?

Follow up question. Now that you understand, do you believe cricket teams will play better cricket on a more suitable pitch?

Respond with answers to those questions

In reply to problemjay

Silly.....it's your opinion....not based on facts.....lost to South Africa in the first test in seaming conditions.....lost 2nd test to spin... Famous Maharaj Hattrick......Lost 1st ODI .... decimated by Starc and Hazelwood..... 3rd ODI decimated by third tier spinners of Aussie....And we like Dodo...put our head in sand to discuss pitch.... Please answer with all your expertise.....what pitches our curators should prepare.....I stick to my silly opinion.....that our players should learn to adapt....and our team management under Simmons should train or retrain them.....as Yamfoot rightly pointed out in her question to head coach after the series loss.....

I have never in my life heard about players having to "adapt" to home conditions. WI seem to be the only nation that does not understand the meaning of "home advantage". The pitches we prepare for our players makes it like an away game instead of a home game. Don't tell me foolishness about the players should learn to adapt to their own pitches. We should prepare pitches that suits our strength. Every other nation does that. We are filled with stroke makers yet we prepare a slow pitch with uneven bounce that hard to play shots on. If our players have to learn to adapt to our own pitches then might as well we play all our matches overseas.

In reply to b4u8me2
You should move to the head of the class Sir. I could not agree with you more.

We get beat on a slow track, fast track, seamer track, spinner track, green top track.
tell me which track gives us 'home advantage', pray tell me who are our 'stroke markers'.

What is considered a suitable track when you are ranked #8?

Bottom-line is the team sucks!!

In reply to tc1

The bowlers did well containing runs only the batsmen from both teams batted like drag queens. But if you complain about your own home ground pitches when you lost what will you not complain against

In reply to Raisedseam

we are dome

1 - West Indies bat really poorly, especially in 3rd ODI vs Australia - FACT

2 - Pitch for 3rd ODI in particular was nowhere near the best for a ODI match - FACT

3 - The pitch for the 3rd ODI was not unplayable - FACT

4 - Pollard pointing out both 1 & 2 above would be accused of making excuses - FACT

You can’t have it both ways Polly.

That said…..this was a case of damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

On to Pakistan T20 series

In reply to openning

That's a fair point. I am maybe being to harsh re Kensington. That said, my point was about pitches in the Caribbean overall and pre-dates Covid. Even the Kensington pitch has not been near the standard of the past. Remember the last test match played against Pakistan at the Oval?

In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com

In other words, adopt to mediocrity

In reply to b4u8me2

Our players dont even get to develop on fast hard pitches. We are killing our own cricket by the surface we create. We cant even cut pull and hook with authority anymore

In reply to Real-cricket
exactly.....we prepare wickets like how india used to prepare wickets in the 90s and 2000s and how Bangladesh prepares wickets now. They won those matches at home, but were obliterated in away tests. 2018 was a game changer for them. They went to SA and England. They lost both series but they won on a very green pitch at the Wanderers. It caused them to prepare wickets that assist both pace and spin, instead of dustbowls that crumbled by day 3. Now you have Indian pacers who are excellent at both hostility and line and length. And more importantly, you have indian batsmen, like Rishabh Pant who are fearless hookers. We need to put some science into our pitch preparation

In reply to Logic
The pitches through-out the region were laid for the World Cup in 2007, I have no knowledge of a life of a pitch.
They must posters on this MB that has knowledge of soil, grass, Horticulture and preparation of pitches.
Speaking of players ability when playing against deliveries takes hours of repetitions.
Watching videos is good, but practicing against it, is better.
After years of losing we still haven't got to doing what good in the development of our players.
We've seen our guys can compete with the rest of the world, up to the U19 level, it all go downhill afterwards.

In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com

I dont even need to read it.

completely agree.

I thought Polly came over as a whiny lil beaaaatch.

he is captain...does he plan to complain about every pitch HE doesnt like?


THIS IS THEIR BLINKING JOB!!

ADAPT or go to Heck home!!

No lotta long talk

In reply to powen001

Going down defending the sub standard pitch like going down defending remember the name, nurse and kraigg

Didn't hear Australia complaining about no pitches..

My two cents on the wonderful debate:

I will agree with those who say that the pitches for the recently concluded ODIs in Batbados was below par. This are definitely not suited for white ball cricket. And they take away from the entertainment value and spectacle of the formats.

That being said, the conditions did expose deficiencies in our cricket. Namely poor technique, mental approach and thirdly the deficiencies in philosophy of the current captain.

When I say poor technique this speaks for itself and needs little further elaboration. Simply a neglected part of our cricket and needs attention at all level a la Australia.

WI cricketers need to stop making playing conditions the primary reason for their non performance. My point is, invariably you will meet less than ideal conditions at some point and you should adapt and face head on.

I am adverse "West Indian" Approach of power hitting (six hitting)espoused by the current captain because, it pigeonholes and convey the impression that one size fits all. That is not to say I am not proud of WI distinction as a six and boundary hitting team. But I was especially disappointed when I heard the captain say one time in an interview that this is how we play our cricket. I was very disappointed.

I'll keep this short