The MCG pitch: What should we expect and how should Pakistan adapt accordingly?

[Wasim_Waqar]

The MCG is of course dear to all Pakistan fans as it is the location of our only World Cup triumph.

The MCG will not be as quick and bouncy when compared to Brisbane. I assume there will be seam movement for the first session at least.

People are talking about reverse swing. Is that going to be a factor with the lush outfield? Or is the pitch going to be abrasive enough for Wahab to be effective with the reversing ball.

My questions to you all; what will the MCG pitch look like? How will it behave? How do we adapt accordingly? What does our team composition need to be?

 

[Junaids]

It will be slower and less bouncy than Brisbane but with a degree of tennis ball bounce.

The pitch will be less grassy, but the outfield will be kept lush to ensure that Yasir Shah gets no spin and Wahab Riaz gets no reverse.

Should be a 450 pitch.

The danger is that with the pitch having less grass than Brisbane, by days 4 and 5 you will see the footmarks created by Starc, Wahab, Amir and Rahat break open.

That means that Pakistan must bat first, or Lyon will destroy them out of the footmarks in the fourth innings.

 

[shaz619]

It will be slower and less bouncy than Brisbane but with a degree of tennis ball bounce.

The pitch will be less grassy, but the outfield will be kept lush to ensure that Yasir Shah gets no spin and Wahab Riaz gets no reverse.

Should be a 450 pitch.

The danger is that with the pitch having less grass than Brisbane, by days 4 and 5 you will see the footmarks created by Starc, Wahab, Amir and Rahat break open.

That means that Pakistan must bat first, or Lyon will destroy them out of the footmarks in the fourth innings.

Great! Yasirs googly will be more lethal in the 4th inning even though an offie would have been preferable not just due to the footies bur lefties to. There's a chance Sohail could be picked over Rahat so footies for Yasir on both sides of the stump

 

[GLORY OF '92]

It will be slower and less bouncy than Brisbane but with a degree of tennis ball bounce.

The pitch will be less grassy, but the outfield will be kept lush to ensure that Yasir Shah gets no spin and Wahab Riaz gets no reverse.

Should be a 450 pitch.

The danger is that with the pitch having less grass than Brisbane, by days 4 and 5 you will see the footmarks created by Starc, Wahab, Amir and Rahat break open.

That means that Pakistan must bat first, or Lyon will destroy them out of the footmarks in the fourth innings.

Lyon is finished but yes we need to bat first and get 350 minimum.

 

[MenInG]

It will be slower and less bouncy than Brisbane but with a degree of tennis ball bounce.

The pitch will be less grassy, but the outfield will be kept lush to ensure that Yasir Shah gets no spin and Wahab Riaz gets no reverse.

Should be a 450 pitch.

The danger is that with the pitch having less grass than Brisbane, by days 4 and 5 you will see the footmarks created by Starc, Wahab, Amir and Rahat break open.

That means that Pakistan must bat first, or Lyon will destroy them out of the footmarks in the fourth innings.

Here's a reply from a friend who also lives in Australia after reading your post :

Don't agree with some things.

- I'm yet to see an Aus test venue whose outfield is not consistently green. Too much paranoia there. And I've never heard anything to suggest that Aus groundsman aren't completely independent : they won't be preparing conditions to negate various Pak aspects.

- I can't remember too many instances of Lyons destroying teams: batsmen self destruct

- I view Melbourne as having the least character of all Aus venues. But it represents some generic aspects of Aus conditions. Like decent consistent bounce but not overly quick. But still quicker and bouncier than anything Pakistan usually play on.

 

[shaz619]

Here's a reply from a friend who also lives in Australia after reading your post :

Don't agree with some things.

- I'm yet to see an Aus test venue whose outfield is not consistently green. Too much paranoia there. And I've never heard anything to suggest that Aus groundsman aren't completely independent : they won't be preparing conditions to negate various Pak aspects.

- I can't remember too many instances of Lyons destroying teams: batsmen self destruct

- I view Melbourne as having the least character of all Aus venues. But it represents some generic aspects of Aus conditions. Like decent consistent bounce but not overly quick. But still quicker and bouncier than anything Pakistan usually play on.

In other words a wicket similar to the one where Pakistan Beat England at the Oval

 

[jeetu]

MCG curator warns batsmen to be wary

http://www.cricket.com.au/news/aust...sandurski-david-warner-nathan-lyon/2016-12-24

MCG curator David Sandurski has warned the likes of Australian opener David Warner that early aggression could be costly in the Boxing Day Test.

Victoria's pounding of Queensland early last month in the Sheffield Shield could be instructive as Australia and Pakistan finalise preparations for their second Test.

The MCG head curator said the Test wicket should be similar to that strip.

Queensland won the toss and the decision to bat backfired spectacularly, with the visitors rolled for 137 in their first innings as Victoria went on to win by an innings.

"It had a little bit in it early for the quicks but, after that first session, it settled down," Sandurski said.

"It became a bit of a new-ball wicket and then took a little bit of turn towards the end of the game and getting a little bit inconsistent with the bounce."

A common observation from players so far this summer is that the MCG wicket can be tricky, particularly early in an innings.

"It's one of those wickets that, once you get in, you should be right," Sandurski said.

"You're going to have to fight hard early; the ball might do a bit early. But once you get through that first session, especially with the new ball, you should be right.

"Melbourne is the sort of wicket where you can't go blasting off from ball one - you have to take your time and get used to the conditions."

That last comment is particularly pertinent to Warner, who is renowned for his determination to force the scoring pace.

While Warner's one-day form is first-rate, he has not scored a Test century this summer.

Another factor that stands out from the Victoria-Queensland scorecard is that Bushrangers spinner Jon Holland dominated, taking eight wickets in a man-of-the-match performance.

Sandurski doubted spin would be a major factor, but admitted if he was picking a side for Boxing Day, it would feature a front-line slow bowler.

"It's still always handy to have a spinner there for that variation - Jon Holland this year, he's taken a fair few wickets on decks that haven't turned a great deal either," he said.

"If it was me, I'd definitely be going for a spinner."

 

[jeetu]

MCG ground stats

[table=width: 700, class: grid, align: center]
[tr][td]Team [/td][td]Span [/td][td]Mat [/td][td]Won [/td][td]Lost [/td][td]Draw [/td][td]W/L [/td][td]Ave [/td][td]RPO [/td][td]HS [/td][td]LS [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Australia [/td][td]1877-2015 [/td][td]108 [/td][td]62 [/td][td]30 [/td][td]16 [/td][td]2.066 [/td][td]32.75 [/td][td]2.81 [/td][td]604 [/td][td]83 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]England [/td][td]1877-2013 [/td][td]55 [/td][td]20 [/td][td]28 [/td][td]7 [/td][td]0.714 [/td][td]27.46 [/td][td]2.58 [/td][td]589 [/td][td]61 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]South Africa [/td][td]1910-2008 [/td][td]12 [/td][td]3 [/td][td]7 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]0.428 [/td][td]28.92 [/td][td]2.47 [/td][td]506 [/td][td]36 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]West Indies [/td][td]1931-2015 [/td][td]15 [/td][td]3 [/td][td]11 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]0.272 [/td][td]24.88 [/td][td]2.82 [/td][td]479 [/td][td]99 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]India [/td][td]1948-2014 [/td][td]12 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]8 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]0.25 [/td][td]26.71 [/td][td]2.83 [/td][td]465 [/td][td]67 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Pakistan [/td][td]1964-2009 [/td][td]9 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]5 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]0.4 [/td][td]31.38 [/td][td]2.8 [/td][td]574 [/td][td]107 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]New Zealand [/td][td]1973-1987 [/td][td]3 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]27 [/td][td]2.55 [/td][td]317 [/td][td]200 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Sri Lanka [/td][td]1995-2012 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]21.59 [/td][td]2.92 [/td][td]307 [/td][td]103 [/td][/tr]
[/table]

 

[jeetu]

Pakistan's performance at MCG

[table=width: 700, class: grid, align: center]
[tr][td]Result [/td][td]Margin [/td][td]Toss [/td][td]Bat [/td][td]Opposition [/td][td]Ground [/td][td]Start Date [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]draw [/td][td]- [/td][td]lost [/td][td]1st [/td][td]v Australia [/td][td]Melbourne [/td][td]4-Dec-64 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]lost [/td][td]92 runs [/td][td]lost [/td][td]2nd [/td][td]v Australia [/td][td]Melbourne [/td][td]29-Dec-72 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]lost [/td][td]348 runs [/td][td]lost [/td][td]2nd [/td][td]v Australia [/td][td]Melbourne [/td][td]1-Jan-77 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]won [/td][td]71 runs [/td][td]lost [/td][td]1st [/td][td]v Australia [/td][td]Melbourne [/td][td]10-Mar-79 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]won [/td][td]inns & 82 runs [/td][td]won [/td][td]1st [/td][td]v Australia [/td][td]Melbourne [/td][td]11-Dec-81 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]draw [/td][td]- [/td][td]won [/td][td]1st [/td][td]v Australia [/td][td]Melbourne [/td][td]26-Dec-83 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]lost [/td][td]92 runs [/td][td]won [/td][td]2nd [/td][td]v Australia [/td][td]Melbourne [/td][td]12-Jan-90 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]lost [/td][td]9 wickets [/td][td]won [/td][td]1st [/td][td]v Australia [/td][td]Melbourne [/td][td]26-Dec-04 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]lost [/td][td]170 runs [/td][td]lost [/td][td]2nd [/td][td]v Australia [/td][td]Melbourne [/td][td]26-Dec-09 [/td][/tr]
[/table]

 

[Abdullah]

is it a good toss to lose then?

 

[jeetu]

Australia v Pakistan at Melbourne, Mar 10-15, 1979
Pakistan won by 71 runs

Mushtaq Mohammad 36
Imran Khan 4/26
Majid Khan 108
Sarfraz Nawaz 9/86

 

[jeetu]

Australia v Pakistan at Melbourne, Dec 11-15, 1981
Pakistan won by an innings and 82 runs

Mudassar Nazar 95
Imran Khan 3/41
Iqbal Qasim 4/44