What are the Different types of Pitches and their effect on Bowling in the Game of Cricket?

different-types-of-pitches

Different types of Pitches: While there’s a lot of cricket happening around the world nowadays, there is a lot more talk going about the Pitch conditions and how it is impacting the batting and bowling on the same surface.

different-types-of-pitches

Gone were the days when we used to see some of the green tops across cricket playing nations like West Indies, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and same has been replaced by some of the most batting friendly tracks over the past few years. So as we are talking about Pitch conditions around the world, let’s have a look at Different types of Pitches and their effect on bowling in the game of cricket.

Slow or Dusty Pitches

Slow or Dusty Pitches

These are the types of pitches which are mostly found in the Indian Sub Continent. Slow pitches are types of Pitches where the difference in the speed of the ball once it gets released from the hands of the bowler and after it pitches comes at More than 20 kmph. Although these pitches were quite a regular sight in the Indian subcontinent conditions, we can now see same making their way out in some other countries like West Indies and England as well.

Impact on Batting

As the ball would reach to the batsman at a much slower pace once it gets pitched on the Surface, it would generally provide more time for the Batsman to think about how to go at the ball. Moreover, the same pitch conditions would help the batting big time when it comes to facing the fast bowlers but once they get to face the Slow or Spin bowlers, things would get a big hard for the batting team.

Impact on Bowling

These types of Pitches generally suit the Spinners or the slow bowlers and most of the fast bowlers struggle big time here. This could well be the reason why most of the Bowlers from England, Australia and South Africa generally struggle in Indian Sub Continent pitches and most of the wickets go into the kitty of Spin or slow bowlers.

Fast Pitches

Fast Pitches

A pitch can be considered as Fast when the difference in the speed of the ball once it gets released from the bowler’s hand till it gets pitched on the surface comes at less than 20kmph. Moreover, if this difference comes less than 15 kmph, you can surely call it a “Fast Bowler Haven”.

These type of pitches are mostly seen in countries like Australia and it is been said that the presence of large clay content in the pitch is something which makes it conducive to fast bowling and provide more bounce and pace in the process. On the other hand, there are few stadiums in India and Pakistan as well which offer such kind of assistance to the fast bowlers sometimes.

Impact on Batting

As we have just mentioned that the Fast bowlers would be having the bigger say in this type of Pitch conditions, Batsman must have to really work hard while playing on such type pitch conditions. We understand that the Bounce and the pace are going to be high so the batsman need to adjust his skills and techniques accordingly to make himself a bit comfortable for the same. WACA (Western Australian Cricket Association) pitch in Australia is considered as the fastest pitch currently in the world and this could well be the reason why most of the Australian bowlers are ruling the world with their deadly fast bowling over the past decades.

Impact on bowling

Fast bowlers are going to be the happiest players while playing on such type of pitch conditions as they would get every help which is required for them to present a big threat amongst the Opposition’s batsman. We can recall some of the biggest names like Brett Lee, Shoaib Akhtar, Glenn McGrath and many other bowlers which have proved batting as a big nightmare for even the best of the batsman on such type of pitches.

Seaming Pitches

Seaming Pitches

The seam of the ball is something which doesn’t have any relation with the pitch conditions and it is mostly impacted by the weather conditions around. These types of Pitches are mostly available in England where weather mostly stays cool with a lot of breezes to assist fast and swing bowlers to get all the seam movement from the pitch eventually.

Although these types of weather conditions are also available in some other parts of the planet, the use of “Duke” ball is something which makes it a real “icing on the cake” for every fast and swing bowler to make the most of their bowling in English conditions.

Impact on Batting

Batsman can’t really do anything about the same when the ball is literally flying all around with the entire pace and swing. It doesn’t matter if they have the right technique or the skill set, this type of pitch conditions would really make it difficult for them to stray on the pitch for a long time. That is the reason why most of the batsman tries to see of the new ball and wait for it to get old to look forward to some runs in the process.

Impact on Bowling

Fast and swing Bowlers are the biggest beneficiaries in such type of Pitch conditions and even though they don’t have to put many efforts, they get to reap the biggest benefits out in the process. They can really make it difficult for the batsman to stay at the crease for the longer periods and test their patience eventually with their bowling skills.

Dead Pitches

Dead Pitches

These are the type of pitches which are mostly used in T20s and ODIs all across the world nowadays. It doesn’t matter which part of the globe we are watching the cricket on, dead pitches, or the pitches with no spin or fast bowling support, is becoming a usual sight around.

Impact on Batting

A batsman is the ones who enjoy the most while playing on these types of pitch conditions. They really don’t need to adjust much with their batting and go ahead with their natural game irrespective of the bowling attack they are going to face during the match. This is why these pitches are mostly used nowadays in T20s to bring more entertainment in the form of Fours and sixes to the Audience.

Impact on Bowling

Bowlers have the biggest disadvantage on these pitches as they have to go through a lot of beating by the opposite batsman even though they are not bowling that bad. This happens due to no or very less support from the pitch for the bowling part.

Cricket Pitch Details (Lines and Measurements)

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