Pitches seminar this weekend

The Grounds and Wickets Committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India BCCI will conduct a two-day seminar in Kolkata on Saturday ...

The Grounds and Wickets Committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India BCCI will conduct a two-day seminar in Kolkata on Saturday and Sunday August 23 and 24 in which 8216;curators8217; from all the Test and one-day centres are expected to participate.

8216;8216;The main idea of the seminar is to apprise the curators of the need to raise the standard and level of wickets and ground conditions at various centres. We want to expose their minds to some thought-provoking ideas about the basic facilities for the conduct of international matches,8217;8217; said the chairman of the committee, Venkat Sundaram.

8216;8216;It is not just how to prepare and maintain wickets and the outfield but the quality of equipment, the sort of soil and the kind of pesticides that should be used for the proper maintenance of cricket grounds that will be discussed at length at the seminar,8217;8217; Venkat informed.

Venkat said some members of the Fertiliser Association of India and equipment manufacturers have also been asked to give their viewpoint on the soil and equipment to be used for making and maintaining good grounds.

8216;8216;The job of our committee is to maintain good grounds. Some of the old methods are outdated in modern cricket. We need to update them and apprise every centre about modern techniques,8217;8217; the former Delhi and North Zone batsman said.

Besides about 18 curators from various Test and one-day centres, some former India cricketers are also expected to attend the seminar. Chandu Borde will be one of the prominent cricketers to address the curators on the importance of maintaining quality wickets and grounds.

8216;8216;We want to put lot more direction into the job and see that the curators implement them with sincerity. Hopefully, some good results will come out of the seminar,8217;8217; said Venkat, who recently inspected ground facilities at Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad.

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8216;8216;There are still more than a month remaining before the Kiwis arrive here. Hopefully, we will be able to provide good sporting wickets,8217;8217; he concluded.