Ian Chappell: Punish curators for poor pitches

Ian Chappell

Former Australian cricketer Ian Chappell has always been known for his forthright opinion, and he certainly hasn’t pulled his punches while talking about the pitch at Trent Bridge for the 1st Investec Test between England and India.

Speaking to PTI in an interview, Chappell said: "That (Trent Bridge) wasn't a good surface for players to showcase their talent. I hope we are not going to see more of this. If the curator produces more of bad pitches then sack him. If he produces good pitches and home sides keep losing - guess what, go and find better players."

He further added that good cricket wickets will do the game a lot of good in general, as it will expose the limitations of players and urge the selectors to pick better quality cricketers.

"The good pitch also exposes the weaknesses of the players, which is good for the game. It also gives an opportunity for the selectors to look for better players. If anybody does not do well - he will be found out and he is gone," he said.

He also finds the recent trend of curators being asked to prepare a certain type of pitch, either by the players or the administrators of the home country, unacceptable.

"The administration, players should shut up and leave it to the curator because curator is like a player. He has got pride in his ability. He wants to produce a good pitch that will give result sometime later on the fifth day," he said.

When asked for the reason why such a lifeless pitch could possibly have been prepared, the ex-Australian captain opined that such pitches are a result of the greed of the associations in charge, wanting a Test to go the full distance to ensure maximum revenue collection.

"I suspect that it was done for the bottom line to have five days of Test. That's rubbish," Chappell said.

England have added Simon Kerrigan to their squad for the 2nd Test at Lord’s starting tomorrow, and while the 70-year hasn’t seen much of Kerrigan, he feels that including him in the playing XI, on the little that he has seen, would play into the hands of the Indian batsmen.

"They have Simon Kerrigan as a spinner. Of what I saw of him last year against Australia, the Indian batsmen should be rubbing their hands in glee with the kind of batting they have," he said.