Pune dustbowl earns ‘poor’ rating from ICC ref

NEW DELHI — Pune’s debut as a Test venue last week proved far from memorable with the pitch used for India’s first Test against Australia incurring a “poor” rating from match referee Chris Broad on Tuesday. As if India’s 333-run defeat inside three days was not bad enough for the hosts, the bone-dry track at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium fell foul of the Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process of the International Cricket Council (ICC). The home side’s ploy backfired as the tourists’ spinners claimed 17 of the 20 Indian wickets to put them 1-0 up in the four-match series and snap India’s 19-Test unbeaten streak. India’s cricket board has 14 days to respond to Broad’s report. An ICC team will review the response and study footage before ruling whether the pitch was substandard. The punishment for a first “poor” rating for any venue ranges from warning to a maximum of $15,000 fine with a directive for appropriate corrective action. The second Test between India and Australia will be played on a “sporting” pitch, which will be fair to both teams, organizers in Bengaluru have said. Pitch talk dominated reaction in India to their series-opening defeat inside three days in Pune, where Australia’s left-arm spinner Steve O’Keefe claimed 12 wickets, the best figures recorded by a visiting spinner on Indian soil. Many believe India’s ploy to roll out a turning track backfired on the hosts, who would do well not to ask for a similar pitch as they chase a series-leveling victory in the second Test from Saturday. Karnataka State cricket Association secretary Sudhakar Rao said they had not received any suggestion from the Indian team and were focusing on preparing a pitch, which would provide a fair-contest between bat and ball. “Our intention is to prepare a sporting, Test-match pitch,” Rao told Tuesday’s Hindu newspaper. “We want a five-day match. We definitely don’t want to see the match end in two and a half days.” Australia beat India at their own spin game on the bone-dry Pune track used for the venue’s Test debut. O’Keefe and spin partner Nathan Lyon claimed all 10 Indian wickets in the hosts’ second innings. “We like to keep some moisture underneath. So we haven’t stopped watering it,” Rao added. “We’ll water it until two or three days before the match. Then we will see what the pitch looks like, two days out, and take a call.” Starc ready for heavier workload in Bengaluru Australia paceman Mitchell Starc is bracing for a heavier workload in the second Test against India having hardly broken a sweat in his team’s romp in the series opener in Pune. Starc and pace colleague Josh Hazlewood bowled a combined 20 overs as Australia triumphed inside three days. “It’s amazing. I think it’s making up for the summer Josh and I had,” Starc told reporters on Tuesday. “The spinners bowled really well and the pitch didn’t have much in it for Josh and me. There was very minimal natural swing because it was so abrasive and it didn’t really go too much reverse. “But when Steve’s taking that many wickets and Nathan’s bowling really well there’s not really much need for us on that wicket.” With the smarting hosts unlikely to repeat the mistake of rolling out another turning track at Bengaluru, Starc reckoned he and Hazlewood would have to shoulder more responsibility in the match starting on Saturday. “I’m sure it will be a pretty dry wicket again, so that’ll probably help reverse swing there and it’s something we’ll be working hard at all the time in the nets,” said the 27-year-old. “It’s about looking after that shine on an abrasive square. And if it’s not going to spin as much in Bangalore, we’re going to have to make sure we’re using that reverse swing to make up for not as much spin as we’ve seen here in Pune.” Starc did not hide his glee at having silenced those who had predicted a 4-0 whitewash for his team though he refused to get totally carried away. “To shut a few people up and really show that this young team is here to play has been great for the group. But it’s one test win, it’s not a series win yet so we’ll be doing all we can,” he added. Former Australia bowler Harris takes talent role Retired Test paceman Ryan Harris will be tasked with developing Australia’s next generation of fast bowlers as high performance coach at the National cricket Centre academy in Brisbane, cricket Australia confirmed on Tuesday. Queenslander Harris, who took 113 wickets in 27 tests for Australia before retiring in 2015, will be joined in Brisbane by Matthew Elliot after the former test batsman was named high performance coach in charge of batting programs for youth teams. Harris and Elliott replace former high performance coach Graeme Hick, who last year was appointed the Australia men’s team’s batting coach, CA said. “Both ... have a strong understanding of the challenges that lie ahead in developing Australian cricketers to be ready for first-class and international cricket,” CA high performance boss Pat Howard said. — Reuters