×

New Perth wicket will have pace and bounce: Curator

Western Australia will host New South Wales (NSW) in their first ever Sheffield Shield match this week and it will be interesting how the deck will behave.

India will face Australia in the second of the four-match Test series in Perth which begins on December 14. @ Getty Images
India will face Australia in the second of the four-match Test series in Perth which begins on December 14. @ Getty Images

Curator at the newly constructed WACA pitch in Perth, Brett Sipthorpe, believes the 22-yard will continue to assist the pacers which the WACA ground was always known for. India will face Australia in the second of the four-match Test series in Perth which begins on December 14.

“The mandate is for pace and bounce, and that’s what I’ll be attempting to achieve,” Sipthorpe, previously worked as the curator of Basin Reserve and Westpac Stadium for nine years in Wellington, was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald on Monday.

ALSO READ: Indian batsmen will have to support Virat Kohli during Test series: Adam Gilchrist

“I can’t imagine it being great for spinners to be honest. We’ll have plenty of grass on it. A good spinner will take wickets, but it certainly won’t be something that spinners will relish when they get here.”

The drop-in wicket, which reportedly displayed good bounce and pace in the few one-dayers and Twenty20 matches played at the venue over the past year remains to be tested over the course of five days.

Western Australia will host New South Wales (NSW) in their first ever Sheffield Shield match this week and it will be interesting how the deck will play.

“The ODI had some really good pace and bounce in it,” Sipthorpe said in reference to South Africa’s win over Australia in Perth earlier this month.

“Hopefully, this one bounces and flies for the first couple of days, and then starts to get a bit interesting with some cracking. Hopefully, we see some of the old-school cracking that we used to see across the road. It would be good to know if it’s going to do that over an extended period.”

trending this week