WACA to suit batsmen

Pundits are enthusing about how much the WACA ground will suit Australia's pace attack in the third cricket Test against New Zealand.

However, records this season suggest the WACA will be favourable to batsmen in the series-decider starting on Friday.

The pitch will be hard and bouncy, which was expected to play into the hands of Australian pace triumvirate Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee.

But it will also offer consistent bounce, which makes life easier for batsmen. In WA's home games this season, two drawn matches have produced 2310 runs and delivered only 32 wickets - each of which cost around 72 runs.

Curator Richard Winter has promised the pitch will be true and reliable, with a touch of grass offering assistance to the pace bowlers on the first day.

If the current 30-degree days continue, that grass won't last long and the deck should lose its liveliness as the match wears on.

More importantly, Winter said the pitch would not crack.

In seasons gone by, the pitch was often criticised for developing large cracks which delivered unpredictable bounce - up, down and sideways.

The last time New Zealand played here, large cracks made life difficult for the tourists in their second innings as they lost by an innings and 70 runs.

Historically, however, New Zealand has done well at the WACA.

It lost its first Test here in 1980 by six wickets but then sealed its one and only Test series win in Australia with a six wicket win here in 1985-86.

The one-off match in 1989 was drawn when Mark Greatbatch - with the help of debutant Chris Cairns and current NZ Cricket chief executive Martin Snedden - put up an epic rearguard fight to stave off defeat.

The high-scoring match here in 1993 was also drawn.