Pitch to favour batsmen

If you’re in the middle of a UAE summer with daytime temperatures in excess of 40 degrees Celsius, how do you go about preparing a ground for international cricket? According to Tony Hemming, the head curator at Dubai Sports City (DSC) and the ICC Global Cricket Academy (ICC GCA), the answer is to do it at night. DSC is hosting three Twenty20 Internationals between Pakistan and Australia on Sept. 5, 7 and 10 and Hemming said the extreme heat of the day meant he and his staff had to become night owls in the run-up to and during the series to come. “We can’t prepare pitches during the day,” he said. The good news for spectators is that the T20 matches are taking place at the Dubai Cricket Stadium at DSC from 8 pm when temperatures will be lower and the spectacular “Ring of Fire” floodlights at the venue will be in full effect. Hemming, whose previous experience includes work at the indoor stadium in Melbourne and in Saudi Arabia, said that in the run-up to the series and during it, if the teams opt for evening practice, he and his staff would become even more nocturnal. “The cricketers won’t be practicing until around 6 pm and so we’ll start work at 5pm getting ready for that,” he said. Hemming also said that he did not expect to do a lot of watering immediately before or during the series. “The players would find it uncomfortable if we watered the ground the night before a match as the water would rise up from the ground with evaporation,” he said. “So for this series we’ll water a couple of nights beforehand and then reduce the amount of water we put into it as we also want the ball to run fast over the outfield in T20 so that batsmen get value for their shots.” Hemming and his staff of 18 look after a total of 56 cricket pitches at Dubai Sports City, covering the Dubai Cricket Stadium, the ICC GCA’s two ovals and the 3000 square metres of practice pitches at the ICC GCA. They also maintain turf and synthetic rugby and football pitches, both indoor and outdoor, as well as a hockey pitch and running track next to the ICC’s offices. Among the challenges they face is the amount of sand that is blown around and falls on their fields, something that is an occupational hazard given the location of the facility. “We know we’re in a desert environment but we also know we have to do our best to produce quality wickets and we pride ourselves in having good, consistent pitches.” And what about the pitch for the Twenty20 Internationals — what can we expect? “We’re aiming for a surface for batsmen, for a really fast outfield and also to have the new ball carrying through to the wicketkeeper, and to the slips if there are any edges,” said Hemming. “It’s T20 and we want good contests. Score-wise, 170 for each team would be fantastic.”   gulftoday