Snake Rifts are extremely famous in Perth. The WACA's old ground used to be known for its pace and bounce, and the new Optus Stadium is exactly the same. In dry conditions, the cracks in the pitch open wide, resulting in more bounce and also putting spinners in corners. It can open up to 5mm at times and cause problems for hitters in the middle.
However, rain was a constant feature leading up to the first test of the year cricket-news/drop-in-pitch-installed-at-perth-stadium-ahead-of-australia-pakistan-series/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Perth. The surface remained under cover for a long time, forcing chief curator Issac McDonald to adapt to the conditions. Still, he expects good bat-to-bowl competition in the series opener, which begins November 22, adding that he expects the pitch to deteriorate but doesn't expect any major snake cracks to worry batsmen.
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“It was pretty condition-dependent. At the moment we're leaning toward rolling it a little more on the top to get that firmness and that happy medium between bat and ball. [It] “It would be nice for the sun to come out, but we feel really comfortable as a curatorial team,” McDonald was quoted as saying by Business Standard.
“I don’t think this weather is going to bring this place down. There will be some deterioration. The grass stands upright during play and provides variable bounce. But as far as the big WACA cracks go, unfortunately I don’t think the weather will get us there,” he added.
India, meanwhile, is preparing to field three seamers and Nitish Kumar Reddy as a fourth option in the first Test. Jasprit Bumrah will partner with Mohammed Siraj and one of Prasidh Krishna or Harshit Rana will be the third seamer. Reddy is expected to make his Test debut and Devdutt Padikkal is currently the favorite to replace the injured Shubman Gill in the playing XI.
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