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“That wicket was absolute disgrace,” Paine told SEN Tassie. “This a Test venue in the strongest state in the country, and they rolled that up. That’s embarrassing. The ball was seaming sideways, it was going up and down, it wasn’t fit for first-class cricket. That was a disgraceful wicket.
“I haven’t spoken to people, but you could see it on the screen it had those cracks where it’s like got grass over it. You don’t even see that in club cricket.”
Paine questioned how such a surface could be produced at a major Test venue, and said that it undermined the Sheffield Shield competition.
“What’s going on at Cricket New South Wales or the SCG? That was such a bad wicket to play cricket on,” he said. “Whether we won or lost, whatever, I could have bowled on that and taken wickets. It’s not good enough.
“How that can happen at one of the premier Test venues around the world is a disgrace. That was below standard for grade cricket and this is meant to be the premier first-class cricket competition in the world, and that is meant to be one of the iconic Test match venues… and that’s what we are getting served up.”
The ground will also host three BBL matches before the Test, with Sydney Sixers facing Melbourne Renegades (December 8), Adelaide Strikers (December 22) and Melbourne Stars (December 26).
However, it also understood that elements of the pitch preparation will be reviewed with the proximity of the WBBL double-header matches on November 26 a potential factor as well as some poor weather.
“Don’t think that wicket was poorly prepared,” Tremain told ESPNcricinfo. “In the balance of bat versus ball obviously ball was the winner, but I wouldn’t be too quick to hang the groundsman out to dry.”
“I’ve played quite a lot Shield cricket, and can’t say I’ve played on a wicket quite like that where the ball was nipping around a lot. There were cracks on lines, and it was snaky,” he said. “You had not just the sideways movement but you also had a few balls climbing up then some climbing down.
“Think you can cop a bit of wear and tear over the course of a game; but when there’s been 40 wickets in 160 overs of cricket, you probably think it’s a bit too heavily weighted towards the bowlers. And that’s coming from someone who is really keen on having some sporting wickets, but it was slightly too far towards the bowling side.”
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