The standard of batting has been woeful but the UAE pitches don't aid fluent strokeplay.
Whenever we play in England at grounds like The Oval - our batsmen look liberated. Finally they get to play on a pitch that suits their strengths - flat but good carry and bounce and not too much pace, but enough for batsmen to get value for their shots.
I wish we could get Oval-like pitches in Pakistan or UAE. [MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] - as our resident pitch expert, would it be possible to recreate such conditions ?
I think, it's possible, to make true wickeets, but maintenance might need much more effort. However, in UAE, it'll never be good seemers' wicket, neither a conventional swing track. If they make green tracks, it might favor the side winning toss & bowling too much. But, it should be possible to make very good batting tracks with consistent pace & true bounce, which should favor spinners later.
Normally, preparation of wicket is similar, component is also similar, but climate changes wickets for a particular venue over the years. First essential component of a wicket is the base upon which it's built. Unless it's rock solid & compact, wicket will never produce true & even bounce. Then the top surface of the wicket, which should have 5-7" thick (can't be more, then wicket will die too early, can't be less then wicket will become uneven bouncy with ball kicking from spots), layer with high % of clay. Oval is the fastest wicket in UK, with true bounce and even pace, but normally they keep very little grass on Oval track, which helps PAK batting. Besides, traditionally, Oval Test is played late in summer (late August), after the wickets are 5/6 months old and lots of cricket, hence it'll always favor Asian sides - IND's record is also very good & SRL did won a Test there. Our batsmen also put 300+ at their 1st outing on Oval.
I don't think, it's possible to replicate Oval wicket in UAE because of the difference of rain fall & average temperature in cricket season. Rather, Perth has a similar climate like UAE, but that old WACA wicket was blistering fast & quite good for batting - which can be replicated. That WACA wicket was built on rock bed with almost 90% fine clay component in top layer, compacted with deep rooted grass. That grass kept the wicket compact by holding moisture and if it's (grass) kept longer, it'll be a fast bowlers paradise - once PAK was all-out for 62 (from 25/9) against Lillee, Hogg & Lawson. But, if the grass is cut short and rolled in by heavy roller, WACA is one of the best batting surface and like Oval - PAK's ODI record is quite good at WACA actually, because it's good for stroke play (Test result is poor, because Aussies would have put visitors at WACA within few days on landing..). However, WACA wicket gets cracked by Day 4/5 because of the heat & high % of clay, which is extremely difficult to negotiate against tall, accurate pacers.
For UAE wickets, I think the base below the top surface isn't strong enough, hence wicket looses bounce too early. Once the ball gets old, it becomes tougher and lack of grass makes the ball die down - it's like a tennis clay court with ball coming with a dead slow, spongy bounce. So, first thing I guess needed is to build the base beneath - dig the squire at least by a metre, put adequate material (rock, concrete slabs...) and ram that surface hard enough so that the base settles into a rock solid platform. Then, they should use specialized soil (probably, it won't be available in UAE - desert clay is large, rough grain, doesn't hold moisture), for the top layer and plant similar grass that they use in Dubai Gold course. Here localized grass is important because otherwise imported grass might not enjoy a natural growth due to difference in climate. One issue I have seen is, UAE tracks are devoid of any grass, particularly the Sharjah & Abu Dhabi one - they probably use salt water to kill the grass from root, which hardly helps to keep the pace of the track, after the initial surface moisture evaporates within 30 minutes of start in desert heat & humidity (lack of it).
For UAE track, I think groundsmen will face bigger challenge than Perth. First, he has to water artificially much, much more than any other place in globe where cricket is played. 2nd issue is, because of extreme change in heat almost daily in desert (between day & night), probably that top surface will loose it's clay content too early and it'll require constant replenishment of top surface. Besides, UAE tracks are one of the highest used tracks in world, which demands much more care than average. May be a top class pro curator could have made it much better than what it's now, but it'll never be like UK, because of the climate.
The best solution for UAE wickets might be a bit expensive investment, but possible - drop in wickets. In that case, it's possible to prepare several ideal wickets at a shed, culture there and put it in place before game (s).
some big totals of 200s and crowd ll come.
