WACA pitch not a spin paradise

The WACA curator Cameron Sutherland has hosed down talk of the ground becoming more suited to spinners than fast bowlers, despite the success of slow bowlers in domestic games this season. Sutherland said the pitch to be used for the Test starting on Thursday was likely to be quicker and have more bounce than those used in state matches.

The Western Australia spinners Aaron Heal and Brad Hogg have made the most of the turning WACA strips, with Heal taking 15 wickets in his two Pura Cup matches at the ground this season. Both Australia and England could make team selections based on the likelihood of a spinning deck with Andrew Symonds and Monty Panesar both hoping for a Test promotion.

But Sutherland told The Australian the Test pitch used different grass to the adjoining WACA strips and it was the grass itself that had helped spin bowlers this year. "Spinners have got turn mainly off the grass left on the surface," Sutherland told the paper. "We've gone with a new grass [on those pitches] over the last couple of years.

"So it hasn't been off the actual playing area. This [Test strip] is a different grass than what we've got on the rest of the wicket block, so I'm not sure how much it will turn." Last year's WACA Test ended in a draw after Brad Hodge made a double-century but Sutherland hoped a result was likely this year.

"We hope [it's different] just in the pace and bounce factor," he said. "We didn't have a lot of grass to work with last year. We've got a bit more on there now, but you obviously don't want too much grass or you get a lot of sideways movement."