`Small pox’ attacks pitch

SAS NAGAR, OCT 10: The match referee for the India-New Zealand series, Ranjan Madugalle has a fine sense of humour. “The pitch has `chicken pox’,” he said in the morning. He was referring to the damp patches discovered on it when covers were taken off.

Now, how did these `damp patches’ surface when it didn’t rain, and most importantly the pitch had been “covered” overnight? Pitch curator Daljit Singh reasoned it thus: “The pitch was being watered and rolled over the past few days. So, there was some moisture in it. There was also some sweating overnight and that’s why there were damp spots in the morning.” On probing, he continued, “normally, the pitch is covered first by dhurries and then by tarpaulin. Dhurries absorb whatever sweat is there,” Daljit said.

Then what went wrong? “The dhurries got displaced when the covers were being put last evening. As a result there were no absorbers,” he said.

The chicken pox rendered the wicket two-paced. While deliveries landing on the dry surface andgrass patches were true, those landing on the damp spots sometimes stopped and kept low. If this kind of negligence could take place in a Test match, pity those playing the already much-maligned first-class matches in the country.