An even contest between bat and ball
One of the greatest, and indeed finest, variables in cricket, only matched to some extent by tennis and golf, is the nature of the surface the game is played on and here in South Africa, it has turned existing ideas on T20 cricket completely
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
One of the greatest, and indeed finest, variables in cricket, only matched to some extent by tennis and golf, is the nature of the surface the game is played on and here in South Africa, it has turned existing ideas on T20 cricket completely topsy-turvy, writes Harsha Bhogle on ESPNStar.
It isn't as if the pitches are rock hard and adding momentum to the ball. In fact sometimes they cause the ball to stop a bit, lose pace but nip around off the seam. As a result the old philosophy of sight the ball once and hit through the line isn't exactly working. You might argue that Gilchrist and Gibbs and Jayasuriya and Tendulkar are still doing quite well but the answer to that might lie beyond the surface and in their pedigree. Young Indian openers are discovering that there is a world beyond and their education hasn't yet taken them there. Good strikers of the ball like Swapnil Asnodkar, Karan Goel and even Sreevats Goswami in the early part of a fine innings against the Knight Riders looked uncomfortable with the ball gaining height on them.
George Binoy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo