England vs India 2014 - 3rd Test: Groundsman at Southampton faces uphill task of retaining moisture amidst heatwaves

Ageas Bowl : Groundsman Nigel Gray says that Ageas Bowl would be a good international pitch

The last time India played at Southampton was in a first class match against Hampshire in 2002, where India won by 66 runs. The current bunch would bleakly remember the nasty pitch with such uneven bounce that led to rumour that India might not want to bat in the second innings in that warm game.

Nigel Gray was the head groundsman then and he would well remember how the pitch behaved that time around, but the pitch was in in its nourishing stages just two years into the existence of Hampshire newly laid home ground.

Daunting challenge ahead

With temperatures rising over 30 degrees and no rains expected, groundsman has a daunting challenge on his hand. The pitch has spent most of its time under hovercraft and only been uncovered while watering.

It will be an uphill task for Gray to keep up with the incredible hot week in England leading to the third Test match against India and England at Southampton.

According to reports, Gray feels that the Ageas Bowl pitch looks green, not as green as in Lord’s, but would have good carry and bounce though the challenge for groundsman and his team would be to retain the moisture underneath the pitch.

The pitches during this series have invited a lot of attention; the Trent Bridge pitch being very slow and low and the Lord’s pitch despite giving the host their familiar conditions saw England team losing the plot against India.

Ball to seam around, but not alarmingly

The Trent Bridge and Lord’s pitch were on the either end of the scale and Gray believes that this pitch would be somewhere in the middle but slightly leaning towards the Lord’s pitch. It will be a pretty good pitch.

"It has a bit of grass on it and will have good pace and bounce. A good international pitch. Grass is there, but it isn't oceans of grass," Gray said.

Gray points out that he is more concerned about the density of grass and how green is the grass rather than height of grass that could make the difference. He also expects the ball to seam around though not alarmingly.

"I am not one so much for the height of the grass," Gray added. "I go for the feel. We do check the height once in a while and whilst it is interesting it doesn't make the entire difference to what a pitch is like. There are other factors like how dense the grass is, how green it is. This has got some green on it."