Australia v India, 2015: Test wickets need more life and variety writes, Robert Craddock

GOD’S gift to batsmen is Twenty20 and 50-over cricket where wickets are flatter than a steamrolled pancake, but we want Test cricket to be different.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 30: Mitchell Johnson of Australia reacts after being hit for a boundary by Virat Kohli (R) of India during day five of the Third Test match between Australia and India at Melbourne Cricket Ground on December 30, 2014 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

TEST cricket must be careful not to tilt the balance of the game too far the batsmen’s way.

God’s gift to batsmen is Twenty20 and 50-over cricket where wickets are flatter than a steamrolled pancake.

That’s fine. People not only love it. They expect it.

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But we want Test cricket to be different. We crave more even contests.

That is the very essence of the five day game.

That Australia could win this series 3-0 without any of its strike bowlers averaging less than 32 says everything about the imbalance between bat and ball in this contest.

A few days before the Sydney Test a fan was heard yelling out to a member of the ground staff “make sure you leave plenty of grass on this deck.’’

The reply came back “do you want me to lose my job?’’

Joking or not, there is an eternal fear among groundsmen around Australia that they will leave too much spice in the deck and a side will be 4-50 on the first morning and the Test will be over in three days.

That is a shame because if there one thing that makes cricket different from almost every other sport it is changing pitch conditions.

South African fans used to call the once-spicy Durban wicket “the Green Mamba’’ in honour of a local snake and legend had it that it was better to bowl when the tide was in because the moisture content was higher in the deck.

A bit of mystery never hurt anyone.

Just for once it would be great to have a curator’s mower break down on match eve and have him confess on match morning “I’m really worried about this deck because I should have given it an extra shave’’.

Wouldn’t we all tune in for first morning action?

At the other end of the spectrum, fans would also welcome a situation where a match deck wore severely throughout the game and sometimes look downright ugly by the last day.

Cricket decks are not beauty pageants. Groundsmen must be reassured its no crime to have a deck with more cracks than a broken windscreen and hopefully the current Sydney deck will deteriorate today and tomorrow.

Australia television ratings are higher when Australia bats than when they bowl but the best bowling moments stop the nation.

When Mitchell Johnson was tearing through England at the Gabba last year the roar was so loud it could be heard a couple of kilometres away at the Buranda shopping centre

Batsmen get quite enough their way.

Almost every rule change, from chucking laws to bouncer restrictions, are made for their interests.

Even the most famous rule of all - that batsman should get the benefit of the doubt - was made in their favour, much to the dismay of famous leg-spinner Bill O’Reilly who once asked “give me one reason why they deserve that?’’.

The first three Tests against India produced three good finishes but it has been bare-knuckled work for the bowlers all summer.

When Johnson averages 35 per wicket in a series on home soil you know its heavy going.

All four Test decks have played similarly well this summer.

That’s great if you are a batsman but don’t think for a minute it will help Australia address its sorrowful recent overseas record which features two wins from its last 12 Tests.

There hasn’t been much that would condition Australia for the occasional green seamer in England later this year.

Originally published as Australia v India, 2015: Test wickets need more life and variety writes, Robert Craddock