The mystery of the watered pitch at Newlands continues, but former South African and Transvaal opening batsman Jimmy Cook said on Monday that it was the prerogative of the home side to prepare pitches that suited them.
”It’s not clear whether South Africa asked for the pitch to be watered, but apparently it looked very dry when they arrived in Cape Town,” he said.
”They may have thought it would offer too much for [Australian legspinner] Shane Warne, and asked for a pitch that would suit the seamers. But it’s the right of the home side to prepare a pitch that favours their bowlers.”
Former national selector and fast bowler Hugh Page agreed with Cook.
”We have a better chance of beating Australia on a pitch that offers something to the bowlers,” he said. ”It we prepare a flat batting wicket, then it’s our batting line-up against theirs, and they would probably win.
”If Shaun Pollock had been there, I think it could have been a different result. I think he would have been deadly on that pitch. He makes the batsman play every ball, and he would have got a lot of wickets in tandem with Makhaya Ntini.”
Coach Mickey Arthur said after the first Test ended on the third day on Saturday that the pitch had looked very dry when the team first inspected it.
”I think Christo [Erasmus, the groundsman] wet it. I think perhaps he might have put a bit too much water on it. Ultimately, it didn’t play the way we hoped it would,” said Arthur.
Page and Cook both defended South African captain Graeme Smith’s decision to bat first.
”In a Test match, you usually look to bat first and get runs on the board,” said Cook.
”Every captain has made mistakes — Ricky Ponting made a huge error when he put England in at Edgbaston [during the Ashes series]. No-one gets it right every time, but I think Graeme made the right choice. It was a very difficult wicket — it was still doing something on Saturday afternoon.
”If Ricky Ponting hadn’t been dropped, I think the whole Test would have been a lot closer. It was only Matthew Hayden and Ponting that seemed able to play on that wicket.
Page added: ”In Tests generally, you want to bat first and score as much as you can, to avoid having to bat on the fourth and fifth days,” said Page. ”Possibly the thought of Shane Warne in the fourth innings was what influenced Smith’s decision.”
Page suggested that what was needed at Kingsmead, venue for the second Test which begins in Durban on Friday, was a fast, bouncy wicket.
”We need to give our seam bowlers something to work on,” he said. Cook said he thought the wicket in Durban would be the normal Kingsmead wicket — fast and bouncy at first, then flattening out.
”I’m sure there’ll be a result at Kingsmead. We’ll have Pollock back in the team which will add something to our firepower. South Africa just have to bounce back from their defeat, and win the match at Kingsmead, and then there’ll be everything to play for at the Wanderers.” – Sapa