Tuffey exults

As play finally got under way in the 2nd India-NZ Test in Hamilton, in the final session of the 2nd day with only 38 overs possible, there were serious concerns about the New Zealand Cricket Board's neglect in allowing a severely underprepared pitch to be used for the match. The track was woefully short of Test standards, and is considered unsafe for play. Much to New Zealand's embarassment, there may be calls for the Test to be abandoned and the status of Hamilton as a ground fit for international cricket revoked.

NZ skipper Fleming conceded that the Hamilton strip appeared to be dangerously underprepared when he said, "The groundsmen haven't had the opportunity to prepare the wicket and, with that in mind, it seems to be a very difficult wicket to bat on with the ball seaming around."

The Hamilton groundsman, who had controversially spoken up about the NZ Cricket Board's seemingly illegal request to him to prepare a "fast and bouncy pitch", refused to cut back the grass even after it was obvious that it would have uncertain bounce and movement. In a moment of fortune that had some eyebrows raised in the Indian camp, Fleming won a crucial toss for the 2nd time in 2 Tests. In a situation where the toss has a large hand in determining the result, it is necessary to examine the fairness of the toss rather than simply assume that it really is determined by pure luck. After all, this is the same tour where the Indian team had mysteriously "lost" all their cricket kits until just before the first Test began, preventing them from getting any practice.

After that, all hell broke lose on one of the shabbiest strips of 22 yards on which cricket has ever been played. When the ball does things which surprise the bowler 9 times out of 10, there is no way in which a batsman can be reasonably expected to face down deliveries, let alone hit them around confidently. All the bowler needs to do is to maintain a line and length, then sit back and watch for the ball to do something completely random. This is precisely what Kiwi medium-pacer Tuffey did, and it fetched him dividends. The lesser of the main NZ pacemen on display, fast-medium bowler Bond who is capable of bowling 140 Kph deliveries, was irresponsibly bowling short, fully cognizant of the fact that he could be endangering batsmen on a pitch which was already highly unpredictable.

At the end of the day, in spite of reducing India to a dismal 92-8, a circumspect Fleming appeared unhappy about the state of the pitch. "It's not the kind of wicket we ask for," he said, mindful of the fact that his own fragile batting lineup could be shot out for a far smaller score which could even rival the recent benchmark set by Pakistan in scoring only 50-odd runs in both innings against Australia, albeit on a much flatter Sharjah pitch. Fleming has reason for concern, with his batsmen among the most injury-prone in international cricket, and easily susceptible to breakdown if fast bowler Zaheer Khan, the quickest of the bowlers on either team, were to bend his back here.

The Kiwi team, one of the most inconsistent in the world with not a single well recognized name in their ranks, may end up winning this series due to blatant and outrageous pitch manipulation. This in spite of the fact that they have come up against the best batting lineup in the world, batsmen whom their players would be well advised to seek autographs from. If they do win, the ICC must take strict action against their board, apart from banning both Wellington and Hamilton. Because what they have done here is nothing short of "match fixing" in every sense of the word.

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