90 'bouncy' pitches for Pakistani cricketers by October

Karachi, June 4 (UNI) Pakistan team's inability to cope with 'bouncy' pitches outside the sub-continent have prompted the PCB to have 90 such pitches all over the country by October this year.

The aim of the project is to help batsmen adapt on fast and bouncy tracks on foreign tours to turn Pakistan's ambition to become the world's top team into a reality.

''One of the key problems we have identified in our (national) team is our batsmen's inability to give their best on bouncy surfaces in places like South Africa, Australia or even England,'' said Shafqat Hussain Naghmi, PCB's Chief Operating Officer.

A Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official informed the process to prepare these sporting wickets at cricket grounds is already underway and should be completed within the next four months.

''The basic reason behind it is that we don't have wickets in Pakistan that offer much bounce or pace and the batsmen are too used to playing on placid pitches.

''This has to change and one way to do it is to have bouncy wickets for both matches and training all over the country,'' Mr Naghmi said.

The official said the PCB has prepared a plan to have nine pitches each in ten cricket grounds but none of the grounds selected is a Test venue.

According to Naghmi, new wickets would be laid in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Sheikhupura, Faisalabad and Quetta.

''We should have 90 bouncy pitches in our country by September or October this year,'' he told 'The News'.

''We are sure that with the help of these new wickets, our batsmen would be better prepared for foreign tours in the future.

''Our teams, especially the batsmen are generally very good playing at home but are unable to do that well in away tours.

We cannot expect our team to overtake sides like Australia or South Africa unless our players start doing well on foreign tours on a regular basis,'' he said.

Naghmi revealed that the PCB is pondering installing cameras at different venues through which one can see live via the internet, in Lahore, whether the ground staff is performing their duties properly. But the idea would only be implemented by the Board after discussing it with its IT consultants.

He also said that the proposals for the improvement of the overall domestic structure would be submitted to the PCB ad-hoc committee which meets in Bhurban on June 16.

UNI