Australia v New Zealand first Test: Optus Stadium deck earning rave reviews as bowlers rule the roost

Even as batsmen ducked, dodged, weaved and iced their bruises, it was apparent that this lively, cracked, hot-baked wicked pitch of the west was just the sort of deck cricket has been craving for.

Mitchell Starc of Australia is congratulated by Travis Head after dismissing Jeet Raval of New Zealand during day 4 of the first Test match between Australia and New Zealand at Optus Stadium in Perth, Sunday, December 15, 2019. (AAP Image/Richard Wainwright) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY, IMAGES TO BE USED FOR NEWS REPORTING PURPOSES ONLY, NO COMMERCIAL USE WHATSOEVER, NO USE IN BOOKS WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT FROM AAP

• Play SuperCoach BBL! Pick your team now
• Every SuperCoach squad named

Adam Gilchrist was right … put the Perth deck on a truck and take it on a national tour.

One of this issues Test cricket is battling world-wide is sterile pitches which are as flat and featureless as a pancake without spread.

It’s almost become a crime to have a cracked deck. Having a strip which breaks up can be seen as embarrassing as having a seam pop in your new suit pants.

Stream the Australia v New Zealand Domain Test Series Live & Ad-Break Free During Play with KAYO SPORTS. Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly>

Mitchell Starc has loved playing on the Optus Stadium deck.

MCG decks don’t deteriorate to the point they have become as ageless as the Queen.

Even as batsmen ducked, dodged, weaved and iced their bruises, it was apparent that this lively, cracked, hot-baked wicked pitch of the west was just the sort of deck cricket has been craving for.

At last a deck with a bit of character and snarl, one which upholds the traditional of the WACA deck down the road even though it was also true that batsmen could score solid runs on it.

The great WACA decks had a shine about them. This one doesn’t because it has more grass. But it has the same electric crackle about it that the better WACA wickets had until they became curiously flat.

Cricket needs more decks like this. Batsmen get enough their way in the T20 and 50-over games. Bowlers get used to being slaves. The game needs conditions when bowlers rule.

Matthew Wade’s joust with Neil Wagner took Monty Python fans back to the iconic scene where the bloody-minded Black Knight had both arms cut off then declared “it’s only a flesh wound.’’

Matthew Wade had an intriguing battle with Neil Wagner.

Wade, after being tenderised by Neil Wagner in the way a butcher might thump a piece of prime beef, walked towards his tormentor and said “keep comin, big boy.’’

Wade didn’t lose both arms but it did have that Black Knight sense of outrageous bravado about it.

Wagner bowled a relentless barrage of short balls to Matthew Wade with four men on the leg-side. It was not quite Bodyline but, despite Wade’s stoicism before he was dismissed pulling for 17, it had a similar effect on the batsman’s psyche.

At one point Wade’s first batting thought was to tuck his bat in and thrust his right elbow at viciously rising balls.

Cancer survivor Wade is nothing of not tough and seemed to get off on the physicality of it but there was no sense his game plan would enable him to win the war.

One Wagner short ball was delivered at a deliberately slow pace yet Wade was so far into his shell he ducked into it.

Neil Wagner made life interesting for the Aussie batsmen.

But even as bruises were iced and batsmen were ducking and weaving the “wild western’’ nature of Perth Test matches was being enhanced.

Optus Stadium has its good and bad elements.

The pitch is a highlight but the ground, much like the Gabba, is sterile and lacking the atmosphere.

It is a much better football ground than a cricket stadium where, because of the gap between balls, fans traditionally enjoy some subtle sightseeing of things other than concrete stands.

But the deck is the only element of the game in view every ball so that makes up for everything.

The New Zealanders successfully tried short pitched bowling tactics against Australia and it will be interesting to see whether they follow this template for the series.

Pat Cummins got some deliveries to move a country mile.

Will the MCG wicket have the life for Wagner to have his 135kph deliveries rising into ribs and armpits?

It would make for another great Test.

Originally published as Australia v New Zealand first Test: Optus Stadium deck earning rave reviews as bowlers rule the roost