WTC Finals: The Ageas Bowl Cricket Stadium curator aims to prepare a pitch with ” pace, bounce and carry.”
An eventful World Test Championship (WTC) final is on the cards, with the chief umpire at the Hampshire Bowl aiming for a pitch with “pace, bounce and carry” to keep fans on the edge of their seats during the historic summit clash from June 18-22.
Simon Lee, who also called himself a cricket fan, said that pace adds the extra excitement in red-ball matches and he was using the “huge opportunity” count by preparing a pitch which can help fans witness “some class batting” or an “amazing spell of bowling”.
“Having the WTC final here at the Ageas Bowl is pretty massive. I feel lucky to have the chance to produce a pitch for potentially the biggest game of test cricket ever staged. It’s a huge opportunity,” Lee told ESPNcricinfo, before outlining his hopes for a pitch he has been working on since late last month.
“For me personally I just want to get something out that has some pace, bounce and carry in the pitch.
“It can be a hard thing to do in England as the weather doesn’t help us most of the time, but the forecast in the build-up is good with a lot of sun, so we are hopeful that we’ll get some pace and a hard pitch without over-rolling it and killing it.
“Pace just makes red-ball cricket exciting. I’m a cricket fan and I want to produce a pitch where the cricket lovers have to watch every ball in case they miss something, be that some class batting or an amazing spell of bowling. A maiden over can be quite exciting if it’s a battle of skill between both bowler and batter.
“So, yeah, if we can get some pace and bounce in the pitch, but not too one-sided towards seam movement, we’ll be happy,” Lee added.
India are trying to acclimatise in the English conditions by playing an intra-squad match ahead of the all-important final of inaugural WTC. New Zealand on the other hand, made lights works of England in the 2nd Test and win the match by 8 wickets to win the series 1-0. The bundled out England for just 122 runs in the 2nd innings.
