Can you please list out tough Australian pitches to bat (Order wise)
It changes over time and not necessarily there is any hard & fast rule. Also, drop down wickets, LO wickets have destroyed the typical characters of Aussie tracks these days but once it was the ultimate Test for batsmen- a six Test series in Australia basically offers the batsmen everything there - the full cycle.
In general, these are/were characters of six Aussie Test venues:
Gabba : it swings most there, cracks as well and if there is a little grass, it’s quite tough to bat there. Aussies have best home record there partially because it suits there attack but main reason is that often Australian season start with first Test at Gabba, sometimes in late November.... and tourists are at gun point by the end of day 2..... the biggest mistake that touring side can do is to look at the bounce & grass .... then put Aussies into bat - Warne probably has the best career stats there. But, then batting first, you might be 250 behind after day 3....
WACA (old): the fastest & bounciest track in world and because of 90%+ clay content, baked by 40C WA summer under scorching sun, by third day cracks open up and by 5th day it widens up to an inch .... reasonable if the cracks are along the length of wicket; but some of them opens up across and around good length .... but, not necessarily WACA is the worst place to bat - once set, good back foot players can enjoy the pace & carry of the tracks, it’s like hard court tennis. You need to acclimatise there with the bounce, otherwise...... touring side often loose the practice game there....... and, Aussies know how to make life difficult- become cricket world was robbed by T20, Aussies used to schedule first two (3, if Hobert also gets a Test) Tests at Gabba & WACA - by mid December, tourists are 2-0 down n a 3 Test series .... this one probably least Toss depending track - you have to play well here otherwise Aussies will bounce you out in any day.
Adelaide: best batting track in Australia for three reasons - 1. The wickets are fantastic, least bouncy, but quick & even paced/bounced 2. The shape of the ground allows touring batsmen to play squire of the wicket shots with confidence against typical Aussie length bowling 3. Traditional days, Adelaide used to host Australia Day Test (26 Jan), means Test starts by 4th month of Aussie summer & wickets are more brown than green. If you are a good timer of the ball, there is no better place to bat In World than Adelaide oval, particularly once set. One interesting feature in Adelaide is that, the wicket remains true all through and it has produced some of the best ever comebacks in cricket - that third innings in Adelaide either with bat or ball determined many Tests; the team keeps strong till day 4 often ends up winning there, regardless of first innings.
MCG: the most notorious Aussie track - the wicket is often slow, uneven and size of that boundary often takes spirit out of fielders/batsmen. And, old days you had to send it to crowd to hit a six, with one of the slowest outfield in cricket. It does challenge batsmen but often not from bowling rather for other factors I mentioned. MCG is probably slowest Aussie track and if they put grass on it, it’s more like English tracks without the swing (& cloud). It’s a batting first track - the most one sided in Australia that’s depending on toss - not necessarily you have to bat first always, but if you are put in, be sure that first morning is going to be hell tough. MCG comes with lots of romanticism, but honestly- it’s the worst of all Aussie tracks in general- in 1970s & 1980s.... it was the Sheikh Zayed of Australian venues - dead slow, low and later uneven.
SCG: the second best batting track in Australia (WACA is second when it’s a batting day, but not always) - wickets have very good pace & true carry, but not stiff bounce. Depending on the amount of moisture left on the wicket, it’ll depend which type of bowlers will dominate the game (pace or spin), but in general SCG is a good batting strip; however unlike Adelaide, it’s difficult to bat last here means once you are behind in first innings, it’s near impossible to recover. SCG was always a fast track, but in recent times they have made it dry, hence it suits Asian teams more, but till 1970s, it was pace dominated track.
Hobert: it seems there and if wind blowing from Tasman bay, it’ll swing - probably the toughest track to bat in Australia unless there is some special issues in other venues. But, Hobert doesn’t host many Tests and I can’t recall any draw there. It probably has changed characters over the years with regular cricket but it was a seemer’s track in past - not much clue now.
..... remember, this is till 2000s - since then Aussie cricket is spoiled by drop down wickets and T20 cricket - now, every track looks similar - grand trunk road with bounce... and Aussies hammer tourists with their tall, hit the deck pacers.
, but it'll be really a tight game if IND wins the toss.
