Melbourne, July 25 (Inditop.com) Australian skipper Ricky Ponting said he won’t be fooled like in the last Ashes tour after it was reported that pitch preparations for the third Test at Edgbaston next week had been ruined by rain.
Ponting was strongly criticised four years ago for bowling first without injured spearhead Glenn McGrath after concerns that heavy rain would make the pitch a minefield.
Edgbaston groundsman Steve Rouse said this week he faced a similar scenario to 2005 after a fortnight of heavy rain had delayed preparation of the Test strip.
“It’s a nightmare,” Rouse told the BBC. “Out of the last 10 days, there have been two actual dry days, and the wicket is a bit like a jelly.
“I’ve got to dry that out between now and Wednesday, because the wicket has to be ready roughly a day in advance, and the chances of getting that solid three or four inches down, there’s no chance, not with the weather coming in.”
Ponting said he was determined to keep outside influences to a minimum when he and the team hierarchy assessed the pitch next week.
“That’s what we got told last time,” Ponting was quoted as saying in the Herald Sun.
“That’s the reason we ended up bowling first in 2005.
“There’d been a cyclone and a tornado through Birmingham and wicket preparation was miles behind. It was overcast on that day so we won the toss and bowled, and the thing (the ball) didn’t move off the straight for the whole day.
“I’m not sure I’ll be falling for that one this time around.”
Ponting is not playing in the three-day tour match against Northants at Northampton, and will travel with the team to Birmingham tomorrow night.
“We’ll have a look Monday,” Ponting said of the pitch.
“It will be a good opportunity to see how far advanced the preparation is and then hopefully we’ll be able to make a more accurate forecast.”
rounak