God help me - the Test Cricket thread

[crashlander]

Test over in 2 days in England, the wicket was a spin fest, even part timer Joe Root took 5 for 8 it was that friendly to tweakers.
Think I said previously the Indians would revert to their old ways and create spin nightmare wickets once they were one down in the series. Its farcical and time the rest of the cricket world drew a line in the sand and said we are not going to play games vs these cheats unless they get their act together and prepare decent fair wickets. All countries prepare friendly home town strips to suit their own but this is ridiculous and we almost need neutral pitch inspectors who validate the quality of the wicket before play is allowed.

The wicket India produced was a disgrace. Unlike the 1960's, there is no good reason to produce a pitch of rolled mud any longer. Indian groundkeepers are as professional as most now. If the Indians  tried, there simply is no reason to provide this sort of rubbish.

Yes, home teams generally make wickets to suit themselves better, at least somewhat. But this was a case of ridicule.
Cricket Australia asked groundsmen to create pitches that will produce a contest over 5 days. The idea is for the game to close, to keep the public interested and the money coming in. 5 close days at the MCG with 60 000 people minimum each day and Cricket Australia is happy, even if we don't win.

That is not the case in India. They don't get that much money from people attending test matches. They do not aim for tests to last the distance. They just want to win.

Look at Australian pitches for the last 2 tours from India: you will note that the pitches were most unusual. They were slower, lower and less pace friendly. Why? So the test would go the distance.
The other big problem with Australian pitches is that they don't tend to wear much. Most of them are drop in pitches. As a result, our spinners rarely get conditions to suit them. Note that Australia has lost game to SA and India lately with big 4th innings batting displays. That would not have happened 20 years ago (mind you, we also had Warne and McGill, so 4th innings bowling success was not a problem).

Effectively, we do not make the most of our home ground advantages. Other countries do. India has never tried to make tests last.