ADELAIDE, Australia — Cricket officials have tweaked the normally predictable Adelaide Oval pitch to help bowlers in the third test between Australia and New Zealand starting on Friday.
Batsmen have dominated the traditionally bowler-friendly pitches so far.
Adelaide head curator Damian Hough said he was deliberately leaving more grass on the pitch for the inaugural day-night test, both to protect the less durable pink ball and to offer more for the bowlers.
"Leaving a bit of grass on it, we’re hoping it will assist the quicks, and the ball will come onto the bat nicely," Hough said Wednesday. "But having a bit of a coarse, thatchy grass should hopefully (help the pink ball) bite into that grass and get some spin."
There were five centuries in the first test on the usually lively Gabba wicket, while Australia’s David Warner had 253 and New Zealand’s Ross Tayler fell 10 short of a triple century at the traditionally pace-friendly WACA ground.
The pink ball — which makes its test debut at Adelaide Oval — is designed to be more visible under lights, but has come under fire for deteriorating quickly in warmup matches.