The legendary Australia pacer, Dennis Lillee has slammed the pitch at the new Optus Stadium, the venue of the second Test between India and Australia. The Perth curator revealed a green top on the eve of the encounter, but over the next four days, it was panned out that the deck was rated ‘average’ by the ICC, the lowest pass mark.
Lillee, who has been in constant battle with the Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA) for shifting Tests to the new ground, said the variable bounce could have got someone killed. He explained, “They want to improve very quickly the wicket they served up. Variable bounce like that, if you’re playing for your game, as four guys were in that match, I don’t think I’d like to play on a wicket like that that’s up and down.”
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He further added, “If you look at it, really analyse it, someone could have been killed on that pitch because it was very much some were taking off, the odd one was keeping low. The odd one that just took off a length, I don’t think that’s good for cricket.”
The inaugural Test at the Optus Stadium saw Virat Kohli, Marcus Harris, Aaron Finch, Nathan Lyon and Umesh Yadav faced vicious bouncers, though none were seriously hurt. However, Australia coach Justin Langer didn’t see anything wrong with the deck and said that “anyone who says there’s anything wrong with that wicket … must have been watching a different game”.
Meanwhile, Lilee said that the Optus Stadium is a “great football arena” he is “not sure how great [it is] as a cricket arena”.
On the other hand, the legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has praised the Perth track and added that the game has needed this kind of balanced track to test the ability of every cricketer. On Sunday (December 23) morning, Tendulkar posted on his official Twitter account, “Pitches play a crucial role, especially in Test cricket. In order to revive Test cricket and generate excitement, we need to provide more pitches like the one at Perth, where the skills of batsmen and bowlers are truly TESTed. This pitch was by no means “Average”.”
Pitches play a crucial role, especially in Test cricket. In order to revive Test cricket and generate excitement, we need to provide more pitches like the one at Perth, where the skills of batsmen and bowlers are truly TESTed. This pitch was by no means “Average”.
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) December 23, 2018
Later, the former Aussie left-arm pacer Johnson posted, “I agree”
I agree 👏🏼 https://t.co/GRhZQUvJSw
— Mitchell Johnson (@MitchJohnson398) December 23, 2018
