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Adelaide pitches for drop-in wickets

Les Burdett has signalled the end of 136 years of cricketing tradition by suggesting drop-in pitches could be used at the ground

The old stands have gone in the name of progress at Adelaide Oval  •  Getty Images

The old stands have gone in the name of progress at Adelaide Oval  •  Getty Images

Les Burdett, the long-serving Adelaide Oval groundsman, has signalled the end of 136 years of cricketing tradition by suggesting drop-in pitches could be used at the ground as part of its $450m redevelopment. Spectators at the second Test against West Indies this week will notice the iconic ochre-roofed Edwin Smith, George Giffen and Mostyn Evans stands to the west of the ground have already been bulldozed, and more changes are planned over the next four years.
The South Australian premier, Mike Rann, this week unveiled plans to expand the Adelaide Oval into a 50,000-seat multi-purpose stadium that will host primarily Australian rules football and cricket. To do so, Burdett said Adelaide may follow the lead of the Melbourne Cricket Ground and introduce drop-in pitches to reduce the risk of football injuries in the centre of the ground.
Burdett conceded a conventional wicket, which has been a feature of the ground since its opening in 1873, was a preferable option, and noted that both the Gabba and Sydney Cricket Ground manage to host both AFL and international cricket without changing the surface. Queensland and New South Wales, however, are not regarded as traditional AFL states, and it remains to be seen whether South Australia's influential football clubs, the Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide, would agree to maintaining a traditional pitch square at the revamped stadium.
"I have worked with drop-in pitches at Docklands and I know what they're all about," Burdett said. "It may come to that and you may be in an area where we've got to find a nursery where we can produce pitches and maybe the time will come. I certainly haven't cut off that possibility, that's for sure.
"There's been some fantastic cricket here, even since back in 1991 when we dug one [of the pitches] up there's only been two draws in that time, and the foundation of the pitches at the moment are producing good cricket. Cricket Australia vote on Sheffield Shield wickets around Australia, they vote on one-day wickets, and Adelaide Oval's always held its head up the top."
Ricky Ponting has been a long-time advocate for conventional pitches, and expressed a hint of sadness at the modernisation of one of the world's most iconic cricketing venues. "I'm actually sad to see all those coloured seats go in the Members Stand because when I was at the Academy I changed every nut and bolt in those seats," he quipped. "That was my job for the year. I'm sad to see those go. I saw some images in the paper today ... the whole redevelopment of this place looks amazing. It's sad to see the Adelaide Oval go as we know it, but it looks like it's going to turn into a fantastic stadium.
"That's the way sport is going everywhere in the world. We know how big AFL footy is in this country and a lot of the grounds now are dual-purpose grounds, the Gabba and the MCG and the SCG. This ground has had a lot of its own character as far as being a different shape and an actual cricket ground rather than a football ground. But it looks like that's gone now. That's just the way of the world at the moment."
Ponting added that the removal of the grandstands on the western side of the ground would have an effect on tactics during the Test match. "Today it was significantly different out on the ground, a lot windier," he said. "We'll have to take that into account."

Alex Brown is deputy editor of Cricinfo