Moves were afoot to change First Test venue

Owing to the controversy surrounding the wicket:

Elmo RODRIGOPULLE reporting from Australia

Believe it or not, there was speculation that the First Test between Sri Lanka and Australia beginning on Friday at the Bellerive Oval was to be moved to another venue because of the uncertain nature of the wicket.

But David Johnson, Tasmania’s cricket boss has said that Bellerive was never in danger of losing the hosting rights.

In recent times the Bellerive Oval wicket has come in for a lot of criticism because it has been a ‘shocker’ and that it may not be up to standard for the First Test match. The surface has been upgraded at a cost of 440.000 Australian dollars.

Wicket re-laid

When the Tasmanian wicket was re-laid on August, the curator was forced to dig an extra 5cm to a depth of 10cm after it was discovered there issues with soil and worn grass beneath the pitch. Even after the overhaul batsmen have complained of uneven playing surface and erratic bounce.

When contacted for his views, Manager of the Sri Lanka team Charith Senanayake said he had a look at the playing surface and it looked good although there was some grass on it.

‘It looked green. But the grass will be shaved and hopefully it should turn out into being a good wicket for a five-day Test’ he said.

When New Zealand played the Second Test against Australia the wicket was very green and it was dubbed ‘The Incredible Hulk’, with the Black Caps winning by seven wickets inside four days after making just 150 in the first innings.

On November 9 the Queensland Bulls played at the Bellerive Oval and the wicket was not up to standard. The Bulls dismissed Tassie for 95 and 142 to win by innings inside three days.

Not tarnish opener

Shane Watson, the Australian all rounder is hopeful that the new-look pitch would not tarnish the series opening Test against Sri Lanka. Speaking to the ‘Herald Sun’, Watson said I haven’t played on it since it’s been as green as what I hear it is.

‘I haven’t heard great things about the pitch and how difficult it is for the batsman. I guess for me it’s handy to be an all rounder because at least it might help me with the newer ball. The feedback is it’s a lot of hard work for the batters, the ball is consistently moving around and I’ve been told it’s been a bit up-and-down’. Tasmania Cricket Boss Johnson said there were initial teething problems but insisted Bellerive was up to Test standard. ‘The pitch played unevenly early and we had some problems... which we’ve had to rectify. ’I am confident it will be a good pitch, there will be a bit of life early and we expect it will settle down as the Test goes along’ he said.

After all is said and done,no one cannot predict how the wicket will play. Only after the action unfolds that one could predict how the wicket will behave. So let’s hope that the game will go the full distance of five days and not have a premature end, which will not be good for Tasmania and the game. Hobart, Tuesday.