India vs Australia | Perth wicket rated 'average’ by International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council, considering the opinion of match referee Ranjan Madagalle, has rated the Perth pitch used for the India-Australia Test an average one to play Test cricket. The pitch saw some uneven bounce which seemed to have affected the decision of the game.
At the start of the calendar year, the International Cricket Council (ICC) had introduced a grading system for the pitches where matches would be played. Five grades namely Very good, good, average, poor and very poor were created in order to categorize the pitches so as to improve the quality of wickets on offer in international cricket.
The Optus Stadium pitch, which hosted the second Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test, has barely managed to receive passing marks by the International Cricket Council(ICC) to host a Test match on. The referee in the match Ranjan Madugalle had given an ‘average’ remark even though the Australian coach had praised the pitch ahead of the match.
"Anyone who says there's anything wrong with that wicket, they must've been watching a different game," Australia coach Justin Langer said cricket.com.au earlier this week.
The low score of the pitch means that the curator will have to work hard to improve the consistency of the bounce which saw some aberrations during the match. The average rating to the pitch came even though Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA) chief Christina Matthews described the pitch as "an outstanding success".
Next two Tests in the series will see a change in match referee as Andy Pycroft will the take place of Ranjan Madugalle. Prior to the match had started even the Indian skipper had expressed his enthusiasm regarding the pitch.