"We prepared pitches that suited us" : James Anderson

[Aman]

Unapologetic fast bowler Jimmy Anderson has admitted England doctored pitches during their Ashes series upset - and called for more of it in the future.

The Ashes pitches became a talking point as the series wore on and all five tests were wrapped up inside four days - with fixtures at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge threatening to be two-day affairs.

Michael Clarke used his final press conference as an Australian captain to detail his problems with the wickets which had been prepared.

Throughout the 3-2 series victory, England captain Alastair Cook and coach Trevor Bayliss steadfastly denied any involvement in the preparation of wickets in the series.

However, on Thursday (NZT Friday) Anderson not only admitted England were in the ear of groundsmen, but said it was something they had not done enough of in the past.

"I think there's certainly an element where we should've done it more in the past [and] we should it do it more in the future," Anderson said in a live panel discussion streamed on the Breathe Sport website.

Anderson also accused Australia and India of leading the way in that regard.

"When we go to Australia, they prepare the pitches to suit their team. When we go to India, the same thing happens," he said.

"Even if we did [doctor pitches], everyone else in the whole world prepares pitches to give them home advantage and I don't see why it should be any different here.

"We should prepare pitches that suit us.

"All the game, at some stage, guys got runs - even the game where [Stuart Broad] bowled them out for 60 [at Trent Bridge], we then batted on it and got a decent total.

"It wasn't as if it was unplayable."

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/cricke...doctoring-in-englands-ashes-test-series-upset

 

[khalil1986]

Clouderson is at least being honest but everyone already knows this.

Pitches should be suited to home team.

 

[blackanhyellow]

Nothing wrong with it.

They should do it when Pakistan tours them.

Hopefully Amir gets to play by then.

 

[Sherlock]

Nothing wrong with it, but I wouldn't use the word "doctored" to talk about preparing pitches.

Makes it sound ridiculously underhanded. Which it is not.

 

[ChachaCricket]

I don't believe it.

 

[Sachin136]

This isn't doctoring pitches the way I think of it. Doctoring would be like preparing a pitch that breaks out after the first innings and the home side is relying on a toss win.

 

[Random Aussie]

Meh, it's their home series.

 

[FreakCricket]

well you need qualified curators to do it in first place, pakistan have never taken advantage of home conditions whether at home or UAE. Our administrations have been so incompetent in past that we were not even able to read pitches, therefore coin toss win/lose didn't matter.

 

[Robert]

Unapologetic fast bowler Jimmy Anderson has admitted England doctored pitches during their Ashes series upset - and called for more of it in the future.

No, he didn't. Read the whole article. Quite shoddy journalism to put that sentence at the top, really.

Three of the five Ashes decks suited the Aussies more than England.

 

[jimbob5]

Why do people feel the need to pretend it doesn't happen or that is wrong in some way? That is why it is called Test Cricket-you have to adapt as best you can to the conditions of the country where you are playing. Should subcontinental teams prepare green tops for England & South Africa when spin is their strength? Should England produce boring wickets for the Aussie batsmen to sit back on & bully them? Well they did for the second test & look what happened. Should Australia produce fast wickets for England when they tour? Judging by their performances on them in this series obviously not.

 

[Convict]

Why do people feel the need to pretend it doesn't happen or that is wrong in some way? That is why it is called Test Cricket-you have to adapt as best you can to the conditions of the country where you are playing. Should subcontinental teams prepare green tops for England & South Africa when spin is their strength? Should England produce boring wickets for the Aussie batsmen to sit back on & bully them? Well they did for the second test & look what happened. Should Australia produce fast wickets for England when they tour? Judging by their performances on them in this series obviously not.

Fast wickets would benefit Australia over England

 

[Amjid Javed]

I hope jimmy is looking forward to bowling on surfaces which wont suit him in the UAE

 

[jimbob5]

Fast wickets would benefit Australia over England

They didn't in the Ashes.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

They didn't in the Ashes.

Those were not really fast wickets. There was movement and carry on offer but not real fliers like old OZ or RSA pitches. England would've gotten hammered if that was the case.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Reminds me of the 2012 SA tour to England where the pitches were flat in order to negate Steyn,morne and Vern but instead ended in embarrassment when Jimmy and broad trundled while SA quicks still managed to take wickets. That said i think they have every right to prepare whatever pitches suit them.

 

[Robert]

Should England produce boring wickets for the Aussie batsmen to sit back on & bully them? Well they did for the second test & look what happened.

And the first, and the fifth.

Time and again I have seen English and Welsh County groundsmen prepare tracks which suit the opposition. The best example was the raging bunsen which the Oval groundsman handed Murali in 1998. Innings defeat ensued!

They should always prepare tracks with a bit of grass to help English seam bowlers, but this rarely happens. A lot of it is down to the weather, which is highly unpredictable in England. You used to be able to say with a level of confidence that Lord's was a slow seamer and had a ridge, TB took spin, Headingley was the green mamba / variable bounce horror track, and the Oval was fast and bouncy, but not any more.

 

[Robert]

Reminds me of the 2012 SA tour to England where the pitches were flat in order to negate Steyn,morne and Vern but instead ended in embarrassment when Jimmy and broad trundled while SA quicks still managed to take wickets. That said i think they have every right to prepare whatever pitches suit them.

I don't believe that. If they were going to rig the wickets vs. SA they would have made them bunsens for Swann.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

I don't believe that. If they were going to rig the wickets vs. SA they would have made them bunsens for Swann.

Well SA back then had Amla,AB,Kallis and Smith. So they were pretty strong against spin. And this was after the UAE horror show by England against Ajmal,Rehman and Hafeez so perhaps they were afraid that Robin Peterson might run through that lineup on Bunsens. In any case even you have to admit Robertcase that England do "prepare" pitches more often than they like to admit.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Bump. Jimmy himself admitted that pitches were "prepared" to suit the home team. Hope certain English fans dont come up with all kinds of excuses now

 

[Robert]

Bump. Jimmy himself admitted that pitches were "prepared" to suit the home team. Hope certain English fans dont come up with all kinds of excuses now

The Lord’s wicket last week certainly wasn’t.

In September you will see test two wickets that suit India more than England, I think.

Anderson has it the wrong way round. English Counties produce bowlers that can take wickets on the slow low seamers that appear around most of the country. That’s why there are few fast bowlers and no wrist-spinners, and why the English seamers struggle in some other countries.