Pitch for first India-Australia Test to have 'really good pace, bounce and carry', says Perth curator

The wicket at Perth’s Optus Stadium for the first Test between India and Australia will have “good bounce and pace”, curator Isaac McDonald said while adding that he would leave some grass on the wicket in order to make it spicier. The first match of the marquee five-Test series, which India captain Rohit Sharma is likely to miss due to personal reasons, gets underway on 22 November with the Indian team set to train at the nearby WACA Ground in its build-up.

“This is Australia, this is Perth… I’m setting ourselves up for really good pace, really good bounce and really good carry. In a perfect world, I want to emulate last year,” Western Australia head curator McDonald told ESPNCricinfo.

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The wicket for the first Test is a drop-in pitch that contains the same clay and grass species as the ones used at the WACA, which was among the top Test venues in Australia before the Optus Stadium was inaugurated in 2018, and was also regarded as one of the quickest and bounciest in the world.

THE INSTALLATION OF NEW PITCH AT THE PERTH STADIUM. 👌 pic.twitter.com/22bWJfiwMd

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) October 29, 2024

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The upcoming Test will only be the fifth at the 60,000-capacity venue that was formally inaugurated in January 2018. Australia had defeated India by 146 runs in December later that year in the first-ever Test at this ground which was followed by a 296-run thrashing of New Zealand the following year .

The Aussies would then defeat West Indies by 164 runs in November 2022 before registering their biggest win at this venue yet – by 360 runs against Pakistan last December .

McDonald and his staff, however, were under a bit of pressure after the West Indians were able to drag the first match of a three-Test series to a fifth day on a sedate wicket. However, the one used for the Pakistan Test was a lot more challenging, with some of the deliveries staying low after landing on cracks on what was otherwise a challenging wicket with plenty of bounce.

McDonald had left 10 millimetres of grass back then and intends to follow something similar this time around.

“It’s (10 mm) a good starting point. Ten millimetres was pretty comfortable with the conditions that we had (last year) and that held the conditions together nicely for the first few days. Live grass on the pitch is speed.

“Both bowling units (Australia and Pakistan) were pretty rapid last year and hoping for much the same this year (for India match),” McDonald added.