Sunil Gavaskar slams ‘brazen’ hypocrisy over Mackay pitch, claims it was no surprise after Australia were ‘humiliated’ by Bangladesh originally appeared on Cricket News.
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KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- India legend Sunil Gavaskar has accused cricket of brazen hypocrisy over pitch assessments.
- He said the Mackay surface was a deliberate response to Australia’s humiliating defeat to Bangladesh in Darwin.
- The second Test lasted just 750 balls, the fourth-shortest completed Test in history.
Sunil Gavaskar points to Mackay pitch hypocrisy after AUS vs BAN two-day Test
Australia levelled their series against Bangladesh inside two days at Mackay, and Sunil Gavaskar has used the occasion to reopen an argument he has been making for the better part of two decades. The India batting great believes the silence surrounding the surface tells you everything about how pitches are judged depending on where they are laid.
The Great Barrier Reef Arena hosted its maiden Test and saw it finish in 750 deliveries, the fourth-shortest completed men’s Test on record and the second-shortest ever staged in Australia. Bangladesh managed 64 and 95, while the hosts mustered only 210 in reply, with Nathan Lyon top-scoring at number 10.
It marked the third two-day finish in Australia’s last seven home Tests, a run Gavaskar argues would have triggered outrage had it occurred anywhere in the subcontinent.
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Why Sunil Gavaskar says the ‘fast and bouncy’ Mackay pitch was no surprise
Writing in his column, Gavaskar dismissed the notion that the surface was an accident of preparation, arguing it was engineered as a direct response to the nine-wicket humbling Bangladesh handed Australia in Darwin.
“The pitch in Mackay was no surprise. After the Aussies were humiliated by the Bangladeshis in the first Test, they were going to prepare a pitch that would be fast and bouncy,” Gavaskar wrote.
He then anticipated the standard defence, mimicking the explanation he expects to hear. “Oh, the groundsman, sorry, turf executive, got it wrong. He went by the weather forecast, which predicted some hot weather, so he left a little more grass, and that led to the excessive bounce,” he wrote.
The second common excuse, that batters simply lacked the technique, is one Gavaskar believes collapses under scrutiny in this instance. “This last excuse could be faintly accepted if the home team batters had batted well, but when even the home batters can’t stitch a run or a decent partnership together, then what does it tell you about the pitch?” he asked.
His broader complaint concerns transparency rather than the practice itself. “It’s just that the Indian management is open about wanting pitches to suit its bowling strength while those from the old powers will do the little whispering and nudging and get a surface that they need,” Gavaskar wrote.
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Gavaskar predicts the Mackay pitch will escape sanction
The former captain expects the match referee’s report to reflect what he sees as an entrenched bias, and he was blunt about why.
“There’s generally been a desire among the referees to get brownie points from the media of the old powers, so it won’t be a surprise if there’s no adverse rating for the Mackay pitch just as we have seen for similar two-day finishes in recent years,” Gavaskar wrote.
He contrasted that with the reaction to quick finishes on Indian soil. “But lo and behold, if a game finishes in three days in India, there will be all kinds of derogatory reports and insinuations made about the pitches, BCCI and Indian cricket. The hypocrisy is so brazen that it is simply mind-boggling,” he added.
The precedent is mixed. The Gabba surface of 2022 and the MCG pitch of last season both received demerit points, but the Perth strip that produced a two-day Ashes Test in November was handed the highest possible rating. Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey defended the Mackay surface, pointing to swing and quality fast bowling rather than any deficiency in the pitch.
Why Gavaskar’s point about spin and pace cuts deepest
But Gavaskar’s contempt for the dual-faced behaviour doesn’t end here. He argued that batting skills cannot be measured without spin. “Playing spin is a real test of batting skill, as it requires deft footwork and soft hands, while playing fast bowling basically has just two movements, either front foot or back foot,” he wrote.
He extended the observation to bowlers as well. “Batters not scoring runs on fast pitches are not rated, but their fast bowlers not getting wickets on slow surfaces still are called great,” Gavaskar wrote. There is genuine substance to the double standard he identifies.
The numbers from Mackay support him. When the home side, playing in familiar conditions with a settled attack, cannot pass 210 and their number 10 outscores most of the specialists, the technique argument becomes difficult to sustain.
Whether the match referees agree to that is another matter, however, one that Gavaskar has never been too worried about.
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