Adelaide Oval most overrated pitch in the world?

[Bob Loblaw]

But that's exactly my point AH.
Lose the toss in Australia (and most other countries now) and your chances of winning the test are all but gone.
The most exciting part of the game is the coin toss (well not really, but you know what I mean)
I know exactly why - they want the game to last 5 days for money etc..
But you understand my point??
Batting first is TOO big an advantage in my view - ESPECIALLY in Adelaide!

I can see your point, but what I was talking about is batting first in order to give yourself an advantage. The old "We've got 'em, you gotta get 'em" theory. That's not to say batting first guarantees you a victory, you still have to bat well and bowl well.

Although there are very few cases of sending a team in and winning, there are plenty of cases where a team lost the toss, batted second, and won.

correct AH
last 20 test matches in Adelaide, 9W 6L 5D by team batting first. And only once a team elected to field (and they lost)

[silicone skyline]

It's hardly a road compared to what India served up.

[catchisthecry]

I can see your point, but what I was talking about is batting first in order to give yourself an advantage. The old "We've got 'em, you gotta get 'em" theory. That's not to say batting first guarantees you a victory, you still have to bat well and bowl well.

Although there are very few cases of sending a team in and winning, there are plenty of cases where a team lost the toss, batted second, and won.[/quote]

Yep that's probably a better way of putting it, you can win batting 2nd
- but you wouldn't do it by choice!

[Shirtfront]

Nah I tend to agree with Watto.
It kills the redbacks that pitch, never get results.
At least WA and Qld get results every match, even if they win half of them its more points than we can accumalate at Adel Oval.
Give us some action Les!!!
....... have won the toss and elected to bat - SURPRISE, SURPRISE!!

If we were any good with the bat, it would help. The fact it is a batters paradise and we still get rolled for under 150 regulary is not the pitch, but the team.

[Grahaml]

IMHO I think AO is too good early on and then too bad late. There is a massive, massive advantage in batting first. I'd like all pitches around the world to offer something early on for the seamers, something for the batsmen going through the rest of day 1 and 2 and into day 3 and then really take spin from day 4. Every pitch will offer something different but all pitches should give the chance to knock a team over early if you're good enough, post 400+ batting first if you're good enough and something for all types of cricketers to at least have the chance to be dangerous.

The England game was a one off. Don't forget that England declared their first innings closed and coule have batted into day 3 if they really wanted. They were forced into going for the win because of the series situation. Were they up in the series I doubt they would have declared at all. And let's not forget the terrible batting display they put up in the last innings.

[wycbloods]

IMHO I think AO is too good early on and then too bad late. There is a massive, massive advantage in batting first. I'd like all pitches around the world to offer something early on for the seamers, something for the batsmen going through the rest of day 1 and 2 and into day 3 and then really take spin from day 4. Every pitch will offer something different but all pitches should give the chance to knock a team over early if you're good enough, post 400+ batting first if you're good enough and something for all types of cricketers to at least have the chance to be dangerous.

The England game was a one off. Don't forget that England declared their first innings closed and coule have batted into day 3 if they really wanted. They were forced into going for the win because of the series situation. Were they up in the series I doubt they would have declared at all. And let's not forget the terrible batting display they put up in the last innings.

I think the magic Warne created that day had more of an influence than their bad batting. I agree they didn't bat overly well and were far too negative but Warne bowled one of his best spells that day.

[jackpot jim]

IMHO I think AO is too good early on and then too bad late. There is a massive, massive advantage in batting first. I'd like all pitches around the world to offer something early on for the seamers, something for the batsmen going through the rest of day 1 and 2 and into day 3 and then really take spin from day 4. Every pitch will offer something different but all pitches should give the chance to knock a team over early if you're good enough, post 400+ batting first if you're good enough and something for all types of cricketers to at least have the chance to be dangerous.

What u talking about Graham? Your IDEAL pitch sums uo the Adelaide Oval Test pitches perfectly. Les Burdett can only produce an ideal test pitch BUT what the players do with it afterwards is totally out of his control.

[MightyEagles]

I've see pitches for games over the last few years that have a fair bit of grass on it and others that have very little grass on it.

[Adelaide Hawk]

IMHO I think AO is too good early on and then too bad late. There is a massive, massive advantage in batting first. I'd like all pitches around the world to offer something early on for the seamers, something for the batsmen going through the rest of day 1 and 2 and into day 3 and then really take spin from day 4. Every pitch will offer something different but all pitches should give the chance to knock a team over early if you're good enough, post 400+ batting first if you're good enough and something for all types of cricketers to at least have the chance to be dangerous.

What u talking about Graham? Your IDEAL pitch sums up the Adelaide Oval Test pitches perfectly. Les Burdett can only produce an ideal test pitch BUT what the players do with it afterwards is totally out of his control.

Spot on JJ. I'm intrigued that people view a drawn game and assume there is something wrong with the pitch. players have something to do with it as well.

[FlyingHigh]

This is rubbish. One of the criticisms of Australian pitches is over the last decade are they are losing their individuality, and are becoming too much alike eg WACA, SCG, Gabba (bit different today after all the rain). Adelaide has always been known as a batsman's wicket, and with more positive cricket plus the comeback of balanced attacks with spinners over the last 15 years have created plenty of good cricket at Adelaide Oval.

[MagicKiwi]

We batted first against India a few years ago, got 400 first day and still lost. It wasn't an advantage for us then was it.

And what a feast of runs for five days that was ME. Two double centuries and a single century in an exciting series of which Adelaide Oval was the only test match to last five days.

[Grahaml]

That is FAR from what I said it should be. For 4 whole days it was a batting paradise and Australia had little chance to make inroads into England. We took 7 wickets in 5 sessions or something didn't we? How is that a fair battle between bat and ball? And then we did the same for 6 sessions! Every pitch should offer something for the batsmen and all bowlers in slightly varying degrees across 5 days.

My ideal pitch is closer to the current Gabba pitch where the bowlers get reward for bowling well, but the batsmen can make runs if they bat well. It's going to be a bit of a quick game but more because of poor batting than a minefield of a pitch.

[catchisthecry]

Must admit I'm really enjoying seeing the batsman struggling for runs, has been rare over the last few years!