The Cape Town pitch took the spotlight after playing host to the shortest completed Test in history which lasted less than five sessions and just 107 overs with India completing a historic win over South Africa to level two-match series one-all.
South Africa coaching staff including Shukri Conrad and batting coach Ashwell Prince were critical of the pitch too with Dean Elgar, who led the team in his farewell match, also acknowledging how challenging it was to bat on it.
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However, India captain Rohit Sharma said he has no problem playing on such pitches provided the critics remain quiet when similarly challenging surfaces are prepared for Tests in India. On the other hand, batting legend AB de Villiers felt it played true to its nature and that there was nothing different about it.
The ICC eventually rated the pitch as ‘unsatisfactory’ in its assessment.
Now, West Indies legend Clive Lloyd has backed the pitch saying if someone managed to score a century on it, then there’s no need for the brouhaha since it all comes down on ‘application’.
Only Aiden Markram was able to score a century on the pitch after a whopping 23 wickets fell on the opening day of the Test at Newlands Stadium.
“I don’t think anything was wrong with the pitch. Somebody made a hundred on that same pitch, on a wearing pitch, so I think it’s just application,” Lloyd was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Lloyd, who famously led West Indies to consecutive world cup title wins in 1975 and 1979, then added what the scenario would’ve been like if something like this happened in India.
“And I’m wondering if that had happened in India, with what they would have done to the ground persons. You know, because if you lose in a day and a bit, the first thing they’ll look at is the pitch. India had a turning pitch here the other day, and everybody said some terrible things about the pitch,” Lloyd said.
“If you’re playing top-class cricket, you should be able to handle those sorts of things,” he added.
Lloyd feels that the financial gap between the various cricket playing nations needs to be bridged with the likes of India, England and Australia picking up the lion’s share of ICC revenues.
“I couldn’t see all these board members sitting down and saying to the rest of the people, three countries are getting 180 million and the rest are getting 80. And one of them who’s getting 80 million is now nearly 100 years into that association,” he said.
“To me, if you’re now up there with the rest, everybody should get the same thing. Look at the Premier League. Does Manchester United get more than Liverpool? Does Arsenal get more than Chelsea? No. They get the same.
“And the same thing should happen with the Premier League. And don’t forget, West Indies, we have 14 islands whilst the other countries are just one country.
“And it takes us a lot of money to hold our tournaments because we’ve got to fly everywhere. We can’t go by boat or train or a bus or anything like that. So to me, everybody should get the same. But if you’re at the top, you get a little bit more for being there, or number two, number three. But you must have enough money to look after your cricket. You can’t give three countries a great set of money. It is not fair at all,” he added.
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