Australia prepares India-like pitches to gear up for subcontinent tours

Cricket Australia (CA) is taking huge efforts in trying to emulate pitches that resemble the Indian wickets in order to prepare for their tours to the subcontinent.

Australia have had a rough time playing in India, having won their last series against India in Indian conditions way back in 2004. The team now wishes to end the winning drought. In a recent report published in The Daily Telegraph, there were claims about CA preparing pitches on the lines of Indian wickets at Queensland.

Also, read – Glenn Phillips hits 6 sixes in an over for MCC

Special efforts are being taken to ensure the new wickets at Queensland would turn square like the wickets at Chennai. The efforts clearly aim at honing the spin talent in the country and providing the right conditions for their spinners to train for the turning wickets. The spinners could then practice on those wickets and hence adjust their line and lengths before arriving in the subcontinent.

The Center for Excellence in Brisbane is the major think tank behind the move. Special clay is being used for preparation of these wickets that could replicate the Indian conditions ideally. South-east Queensland is the region from where this soil is being harvested into the wickets. According to the same report, an extensive research was carried out by the CA officials prior to arriving at the desired result.

Australian team is scheduled to tour Sri Lanka in July this year where they will be playing 3 Test matches. The leading spinners on the tour, Nathan Lyon and Steve O’Keefe, are geared up for the occasion and willing to exploit the spinner friendly conditions. The Australian team is also slated to be touring India for the Border Gavaskar Trophy as per the FTP of the two concerned cricket boards. With the subcontinental tours on the radar, the move by CA is certainly commendable.