- Joined
- Oct 2, 2004
- Runs
- 218,158
Ramiz Raja speaking to TMS (BBC)
"I've really not cracked the code regarding a Test match pitch, unfortunately and am absolutely disappointed with this Rawalpindi pitch"
"The reason why I am stressing on drop-in pitches in Pakistan is because you will go to Multan and Karachi (for the second and third Tests), and you will get a similar flavour"
"We don't get bounce on our pitches which has to do with the clay and how we prepare a pitch; I don't know what's happening"
"T20Is and ODIs - we're fine and pitches don't come under such scrutiny, but we are still years away from preparing a great 5-day pitch"
"It is embarrassing for us, especially when you have a cricketer as chairman"
"This is not a good advert for cricket. We're a better cricketing nation than this."
"Ultimately, the only situation is a drop-in pitch. Which is extremely expensive if we're bringing it from abroad. Instead, we're developing soil here for drop-in pitches. That way, we can prepare square turners or bouncy wickets depending on what we want.
"This is not an issue of not leaving grass on the pitch. The grass looks good from the point of view of optics. We need to create bounce, which can happen without grass, as happens on Australian pitches. They don't leave lots of grass on the pitch. We get different pitches in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
"We have the same pitches because we get the same kind of soil. We've tried to bring a creator from abroad; we needed to bring a curator from Australia for the Lahore Test, because the situation had got out of hand. When I want a spinning pitch, we don't get that either, so it ends up being half and half. We don't want that."
"The board doesn't direct how pitches are made. I've left this to the thinktank. We look at our strengths and then the pitch and then make selections. I try and limit my involvement because otherwise I can't hold people accountable. For accountability you have to cede control. I aim to create a pitch that ends up defining our tactics so a template is set.
"We live in the dark ages of pitches in Pakistan. They aren't exposed in T20 and 50 overs but they are in Test cricket. We lived in an apartheid situation where teams didn't come here. Pakistan players had played 70 Tests without playing here. It's an achievement that we managed to stay afloat. We've tried everything, bringing in a curator from abroad. Pitches are the lifeblood of cricket in a country, but having said that, I've never seen batting like England's on Day 1 either."
"This will improve by next season. Unfortunately we'll see the same kinds of pitches for the New Zealand series."
"I've really not cracked the code regarding a Test match pitch, unfortunately and am absolutely disappointed with this Rawalpindi pitch"
"The reason why I am stressing on drop-in pitches in Pakistan is because you will go to Multan and Karachi (for the second and third Tests), and you will get a similar flavour"
"We don't get bounce on our pitches which has to do with the clay and how we prepare a pitch; I don't know what's happening"
"T20Is and ODIs - we're fine and pitches don't come under such scrutiny, but we are still years away from preparing a great 5-day pitch"
"It is embarrassing for us, especially when you have a cricketer as chairman"
"This is not a good advert for cricket. We're a better cricketing nation than this."
"Ultimately, the only situation is a drop-in pitch. Which is extremely expensive if we're bringing it from abroad. Instead, we're developing soil here for drop-in pitches. That way, we can prepare square turners or bouncy wickets depending on what we want.
"This is not an issue of not leaving grass on the pitch. The grass looks good from the point of view of optics. We need to create bounce, which can happen without grass, as happens on Australian pitches. They don't leave lots of grass on the pitch. We get different pitches in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
"We have the same pitches because we get the same kind of soil. We've tried to bring a creator from abroad; we needed to bring a curator from Australia for the Lahore Test, because the situation had got out of hand. When I want a spinning pitch, we don't get that either, so it ends up being half and half. We don't want that."
"The board doesn't direct how pitches are made. I've left this to the thinktank. We look at our strengths and then the pitch and then make selections. I try and limit my involvement because otherwise I can't hold people accountable. For accountability you have to cede control. I aim to create a pitch that ends up defining our tactics so a template is set.
"We live in the dark ages of pitches in Pakistan. They aren't exposed in T20 and 50 overs but they are in Test cricket. We lived in an apartheid situation where teams didn't come here. Pakistan players had played 70 Tests without playing here. It's an achievement that we managed to stay afloat. We've tried everything, bringing in a curator from abroad. Pitches are the lifeblood of cricket in a country, but having said that, I've never seen batting like England's on Day 1 either."
"This will improve by next season. Unfortunately we'll see the same kinds of pitches for the New Zealand series."
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