From Newsgroup: uk.sport.cricket
England's pitches have become too batsmen friendly compared to the past.
I hope the curators prepare BETTER pitches for the rest of the series.
Shubman Gill: 'The game loses its essence' without help for the bowlers
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/eng-vs-ind-shubman-gill-the-game-loses-its-essence-without-help-for-the-bowlers-1493877
Shubman Gill feels the combination of flat pitches and the Duke's balls
is taking away from the essence of Test cricket in England. Ater India
managed to take 20 wickets - 15 of them in bursts with three new balls -
to level the series 1-1, he was asked what he thought of these
conditions that happen to have coincided with the Bazball era in England.
"It gets very difficult for the bowlers," Gill said. "Even more than the wicket [pitch], the ball is going soft and out of shape very quickly. I
don't know what it is - weather, wickets [pitches] or whatever - but it
gets very difficult for the bowlers to get wickets in these conditions.
As a team, when you know it is difficult to get wickets and runs are
coming easily, a lot of things are out of your control.
"I think there should be a little help at least. If the ball is doing something, you enjoy playing. If you know there is only 20 overs of any
help and then you have to spend the rest of the day on the defensive,
thinking how to stop runs, then the game loses its essence."
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