ADELAIDE, Australia, CMC – Head curator Damian Hough believes the Adelaide Oval pitch for the opening Test against West Indies will provide assistance for both spinners and seamers, with batsmen also expected to reap rewards against the old ball.
The venue will stage only its second day Test in 10 years when the contest involving the Caribbean side bowls off here Wednesday (Tuesday night, Eastern Caribbean time), but Hough said he expected the strip to play as it usually did for day-night fixtures.
“With the mat of grass, the philosophy is the spinners can get it to purchase into that mat and get it to grip and turn and bounce,” Hough said.
“I don’t think we’ve seen a Test match where it hasn’t done that.
“We’re confident that spin will play a part, but at the same time for the quicks we hope it will nip around with the new ball and then as the ball gets older it gets easier to bat on.
“That’s our game plan but whether it pans out that way, time will tell.”
The last Test played at the Adelaide Oval two years ago was a day-night affair ironically featuring West Indies, Australia coming away with a crushing 419-run victory inside four days.
Seam accounted for 14 of the 20 West Indies wickets to fall in the game, the hosts piling up in excess of 500 runs in the first innings before declaring on both occasions.
Temperatures soared to 34 degrees Celsius on Monday and are expected to climb as high as 37 during the opening Test, and Hough said he expected the heat to have an impact on the playing surface.
“We’ve been doing the same preparation since 2015 at Shield level, the same preparation when India had the day Test match [in 2018],” he explained.
“The preparation is exactly the same whether it’s a four-day or five-day, whether it’s a red or a pink ball.
“It’s got a slight green tinge through it, but it’s dry and it’s hard – 34C today and again tomorrow, so we expect it to lose a little bit more moisture and [be] ready for a 10 am start on Wednesday.”
West Indies have travelled with five seamers in their 15-man squad, with left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie serving as the front-line slow bowling option, and the uncapped Kavem Hodge and Kevin Sinclair as backup.
The tourists have not won in Adelaide in three decades and have not beaten Australia in a Test series in the same period of time.
