By JMB
September 15 2006

The leading pitches officer gave the Yorkshire groundstaff a vote of confidence before the Headingley Test match. Chris Wood, the ECB's pitches consultant, said Headingley's reputation of producing sub-standard surfaces was outdated following recent improvement work to the Headingley square. Yorkshire began re-laying the square just prior to England's two-day victory over the West Indies in 2000, the last time the club received widespread criticism. Work has continued ever since at the rate of two pitches per year and should be finished by 2008.

Mud sticks, however, and it seems no Headingley Test would be complete without particular attention to the state of the surface. Wood said the improvements since 2000 had been warmly welcomed by the ECB and that Headingley's adverse reputation was no longer merited.

"There was a time when I was never quite certain what the Headingley pitch was going to do," admitted Wood. "There have been occasions when the ball has seamed around a lot and the bounce has been uneven and the pitch has attracted plenty of stick, however, during the last few years, the groundsman Andy Fogarty and his team have worked wonders on the square and the pitches now are vastly improved. When I went up to Headingley earlier in the summer for the one-day international between England and Sri Lanka, it was the best I've seen the square in terms of grass health and general appearance, and I'm very optimistic about the next few days. I cannot applaud Yorkshire highly enough and in particular Andy and his hard-working staff. There is now every reason to believe that poor pitches and Headingley are a thing of the past."

The surface for Friday's fixture is the same one deployed for Headingley's last Test match, when New Zealand visited in 2004, and also for last year's NatWest Challenge one-day international against Australia. England won both games by nine wickets, scoring more than 500 runs in the first innings of the Test match. Another good batting surface is expected for Friday.

Stewart Regan, Yorkshire's chief executive, said the club had made a determined effort to tackle the pitches issue head-on. "Over the last few years the reputation of Headingley as one of the best pitches in the country has come on leaps and bounds and now everyone is determined to keep that going. The groundstaff have worked exceptionally hard and the pitches are getting better all the time. Clive Lloyd has just given us a massive vote of confidence because I have on my desk the details of his match referee's report for the one-day international here between England and Sri Lanka. Clive said that although the pitch looked as though it might have been too dry at first, it turned out to be an absolute beauty. He also commented on the excellence of the outfield. It's all about changing perceptions and we are determined to deliver the best pitches possible. I don't want the club to get into the business of making predictions about how this Test pitch might play, or any pitch for that matter, but let's just say I have every confidence it will be a good cricket-wicket."

Geoff Cope, the county's director of operations, commented: "The re-laying programme is now well down the track and we're starting to see the benefits of the new pitches. We are consistently getting good marks for the surfaces in county cricket and the pitches are producing plenty of runs. Basically, we re-do two pitches each September, leave them for the whole of the following year to settle, then look to play some Academy and one-day matches on them the year after that. Then, in the third year, the idea is that the pitches are hopefully ready for Championship action. Each new pitch is a three-year process. Credit must be paid to the groundstaff team of Andy Fogarty, Christian Dunkerley and Gareth Millthorpe, who have been absolutely fantastic. Yorkshire owes them a big vote of thanks."

On the first morning of the Pakistan test many commentators predicted that the ball would rule the bat. This didn't happen and it is testimony to the Yorkshire groundstaff that it was batting records that fell. The Headingley crowd were treated to an excellent and entertaining match which went the distance, producing an England win late into the fifth day.