Glass and plastic: A pitch for pace

“Most pitches in India are batsmen friendly. Young players grow up practising on those pitches and a result many of them are unable to handle the pace and bounce of fast bowlers when playing abroad,” he said. A case in point is the recent South African debacle. Modugil added that he had learnt about this technique of preparing pitches from Sourabh Chatterjee, the coach of the Alberton Cricket Club from South Africa, who had visited the city along with his team as part of a 40-day cricket tour of India. According to Chatterjee, the pitches in South Africa are prepared using glass, sand and clay. “We dig the ground around three feet deep. Then we spread a polythene sheet on which we place broken pieces of glass. This is followed by alternating layers of sand and glass.

Finally, we spread a layer of clay on top of which we plant the grass,” said Chatterjee explaining the layout to Modugil. The advantage of such a pitch, Modugil explained, was that it helped to retain the moisture much longer. “The layers of glass slow down the seepage of moisture into the ground and the polythene sheet helps to trap it for a longer time. That makes the wicket livelier, which is especially helpful for bowling bouncers. The glass also controls wild growth on the pitch,” he said.

“This is the first time in India that glass is going to be used,” said Modugil adding that the pitch would be laid at the JR Institute of Cricket Technology in Barwala, Panchkula.