Perth has a new Test wicket but spinners who feared the WACA shouldn't hold their breath for a change in fortunes.
That's the message from Brett Sipthorpe, who is responsible for producing the Perth Stadium pitch ahead of next month's Test between Australia and India.
Western Australia will host NSW in the first-ever Sheffield Shield match at Perth Stadium this week, with both sides unsure how the deck will play.
The drop-in wicket has displayed good pace and bounce in the handful of one-day and T20 matches played there over the past year.
But it remains to be seen how it fares over the course of four or five days in hot conditions.
Sipthorpe, who previously worked as the curator of Basin Reserve and Westpac Stadium for nine years in Wellington, predicts the new Perth Stadium wicket will carry the same characteristics as the pace-friendly WACA.
"The mandate is for pace and bounce, and that's what I'll be attempting to achieve," Sipthorpe said.
"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."
Australia and India will lock horns at the 60,000-seat venue in the second Test of the four-match series on December 14.
Sipthorpe, who took up the new post of WACA and Perth Stadium curator 11 weeks ago, said this week's Shield match at the stadium was a good test to see how the deck fared.
"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."
NSW captain Peter Nevill said he had "no idea" what to expect from the deck.
"I watched a bit of the ODI when Australia and South Africa played there," Neville said.
"But for a four-day wicket, it's going to be new for both teams.
"Usually you go over and it's a lot of home-ground advantage for WA at the WACA, but not so this game."
AAP
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cri...-waca-for-inaugural-test-20181126-p50ii7.html
That's the message from Brett Sipthorpe, who is responsible for producing the Perth Stadium pitch ahead of next month's Test between Australia and India.
Western Australia will host NSW in the first-ever Sheffield Shield match at Perth Stadium this week, with both sides unsure how the deck will play.
The drop-in wicket has displayed good pace and bounce in the handful of one-day and T20 matches played there over the past year.
But it remains to be seen how it fares over the course of four or five days in hot conditions.
Sipthorpe, who previously worked as the curator of Basin Reserve and Westpac Stadium for nine years in Wellington, predicts the new Perth Stadium wicket will carry the same characteristics as the pace-friendly WACA.
"The mandate is for pace and bounce, and that's what I'll be attempting to achieve," Sipthorpe said.
"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."
Australia and India will lock horns at the 60,000-seat venue in the second Test of the four-match series on December 14.
Sipthorpe, who took up the new post of WACA and Perth Stadium curator 11 weeks ago, said this week's Shield match at the stadium was a good test to see how the deck fared.
"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."
NSW captain Peter Nevill said he had "no idea" what to expect from the deck.
"I watched a bit of the ODI when Australia and South Africa played there," Neville said.
"But for a four-day wicket, it's going to be new for both teams.
"Usually you go over and it's a lot of home-ground advantage for WA at the WACA, but not so this game."
AAP
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cri...-waca-for-inaugural-test-20181126-p50ii7.html
