Curator tips SCG pitch to take a turn for the better

Although an enduring desire for the SCG to reclaim its reputation as a spin haven may be entirely dependent on this week's weather, its curator Adam Lewis is confident there will be no repeat of the horror pitch produced for its most recent red-ball game.

Lewis admits he took to heart criticism of the wicket produced for the late-November Marsh Sheffield Shield clash between NSW and Tasmania – former Test and Tigers captain Tim Paine labelled it "embarrassing" – after the match's final 24 wickets fell in just 63 overs.

It overshadowed the fact he had prepared what players labelled one of the better SCG pitches of recent years in the preceding Shield match.

Foot traffic from the Weber WBBL double-header only two days before the Tasmania match, combined with hot weather then baking out an already dry surface, proved the perfect cocktail of ingredients to open up snaking cracks down the middle of the surface.

"With the short turnaround from the women's double header, we just couldn't get enough water back into the wicket," Lewis told cricket.com.au.

"We take (criticism) to heart, because we put so much time and effort into it. We want to produce something that's good for both the batter and the bowler.

"When it gets taken out of our hands, it's hard. Hopefully we won't be in that situation. We learnt from it, and we know what to do differently next time."

Unpredictable storms have kept Lewis and his team on guard leading into this summer's New Year's Test against Pakistan, and there is more rain forecast for the coming days.

Wet weather is the biggest barrier to the pitch taking turn and has been the biggest factor in the SCG going from holding a reputation as the No.1 spin Test venue in Australia to statistically being the worst.

Over the past five Sydney Tests, spinners have taken 54 scalps at an average of 44.02 and a strike-rate of 85.6. The Gabba is the only other venue in Australia over that same period where spinners have averaged more than 32, or taken a wicket at worse than every 70 balls.

But without the wear and tear caused by hot weather and bowler's footmarks, the surface has simply not had a chance to become a turner.

"It's a pitch that gets its reputation from deterioration, with hopefully heat and baking sun exposing that unique clay that helps spin," Cricket Australia's operations chief Peter Roach told cricket.com.au.

"If there's no baking sun because it's sitting under covers, or there is cloud cover throughout the match, it won't deteriorate as quickly and won't spin as much.

"We don't want Sydney to look like Perth or anywhere else in Australia, because I think everyone loves seeing it spin. That's a unique feature of the SCG.

"For this Test series we've seen a match at the venue with the fastest pitch in the world (in Perth), and it's going to finish with historically Australia's best spinning pitch.

"So in a shortened series, we will hopefully see all the extremes, and we want that from Sydney, but they unfortunately haven't had that perfect opportunity to produce it in recent times."

After relaying the SCG's centre-wicket area with a fresh batch of Bulli soil in February and March last year, Lewis believes there are promising signs for slow bowlers.

"We're always hopeful (of spin). We're lucky with the characteristics of the Bulli soil that it breaks up and crusts up into fine dust," he said.

It has tempted Pakistan into playing a specialist spinner for the first time in the series, with Sajid Khan named after first-choice leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed failed to prove his fitness.

Nathan Lyon will play for the Aussies but the strength of the hosts' pace attack has meant a complementary spinner – Victorian Todd Murphy who shapes as Lyon's eventual replacement – will not be required.

Lewis says the lead-in to the venue's marquee annual match has been far smoother than last summer, which he labelled a "nightmare" build-up to the New Year's Test.

Only a month after the Sydney Swans played their final Australian Football League match for the 2022 season at the SCG, the first of seven T20 World Cup matches were played at the venue, compromising the preparation of the Test wicket.

Inclement weather then ensured the match against South Africa was a damp affair, marking Sydney's third consecutive draw and their sixth stalemate in nine years.

"The last three or four years, we've lost an average of a day-and-a-half of cricket (per Test)," said Lewis.

"If we get the good weather it will break up and it should definitely take spin like the SCG is known for.

"We're just hoping for a good even contest. And to be honest with you, I'd love David Warner to get a hundred and I'd love Nathan Lyon to get a 10-for – and we win. If we got that I'd be very happy."

KFC BBL|13 standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Total points PTS
1 Brisbane Heat Men HEA	10	7	1	0	2	0.972	0	16
2 Sydney Sixers Men SIX	10	6	2	0	2	0.339	0	14
3 Perth Scorchers Men SCO	10	6	3	0	1	0.725	0	13
4 Adelaide Strikers Men STR	10	5	4	0	1	0.331	0	11
5 Hobart Hurricanes Men HUR	10	4	6	0	0	-0.268	0	8
6 Melbourne Stars Men STA	10	4	6	0	0	-1.051	0	8
7 Melbourne Renegades Men REN	10	2	6	0	2	-0.288	0	6
8 Sydney Thunder Men THU	10	1	7	0	2	-0.652	0	4

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

PTS: Total points

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