Cricket Australia Urges Curators to Favour Batters in Sheffield Shield Pitches

Cricket Australia (CA) is set to encourage domestic curators to prepare more batter-friendly pitches for the upcoming Sheffield Shield season as concerns grow over the quality of Australian surfaces and their impact on the development of Test cricketers.

Australian pitches have come under increasing scrutiny following another two-day Test in Mackay, the third such occurrence in Australia's last seven home Tests. Despite the match ending inside two days, the Mackay pitch had only 3.5mm of grass and is expected to receive a favourable rating from the International Cricket Council (ICC), similar to the two-day Perth Test during last season's Ashes.

CA's operations and scheduling chief Peter Roach discussed pitch preparation with curators from Australia's first-class venues during an annual conference in July. State men's coaches also held discussions with CA's high-performance staff, including national coach Andrew McDonald, head of national teams Ben Oliver and head of cricket James Allsopp.

The quality of pitches in both Test and Sheffield Shield cricket was a major topic of discussion.

One of CA's concerns is Australia's declining home batting numbers. Four of the country's last 20 home Tests have failed to reach a third day, while batting and bowling averages have generally moved in a less favourable direction.

The issue has prompted debate over whether Australia's batting problems are primarily the result of declining techniques and temperament, modern batting styles influenced by limited-overs cricket, changes to the Kookaburra ball or increasingly bowler-friendly pitches.

Roach said CA's message to curators has changed after years of encouraging a stronger emphasis on bowling-friendly conditions.
"Our previous language, probably for the best part of a decade, has been that we do want to see a balance between bat and ball," Roach said. "But over the last decade, that's probably been a 'when in doubt lean towards the bowler'."

He explained that CA now wants curators to adopt a different approach.
"Our language is we still want the balance, but if in doubt lean towards the batter."

According to Roach, the change does not mean CA will instruct curators to produce flat pitches. Instead, the emphasis will be on making small adjustments during pitch preparation, such as reducing the amount of grass, taking a little more off the surface or giving the pitch an additional roll.

"We still want to see results in our games. We don't want long, laborious draws," Roach said. "But the language that we [now want] to get across to our curators is that 'if in doubt, favour the batter.'"

The move comes amid concerns about the standard of Shield batting. Last season, the highest batting average among the competition's top 10 run-scorers was only 36.41.

Former players have increasingly described the situation as a batting crisis, while Australia's batters have also pointed to the changing nature of the Kookaburra ball.

The ball was modified in 2019 with a second layer of lacquer and additional reinforcement to the seam, making it harder and allowing it to retain its characteristics for longer.

Australia batter Steven Smith has previously acknowledged that batting has become more difficult since the change.

Smith averaged 77.25 in 29 home Tests between 2010 and 2019, scoring 13 centuries in 50 innings. Since the ball change, he has averaged 45.53 in 35 home Tests, with six centuries in 61 innings.

During Australia's 2024-25 series against India, Smith said the combination of greener pitches and the harder Kookaburra ball had made batting particularly challenging.

Roach agreed that several factors have contributed to the changing conditions and said curators would need to continue adapting.

"It's been a combination of things, and our curators, as always, will need to adjust, as they always have, to try and get the best balance in each game of cricket they have," he said.

Sheffield Shield Session Timings Changed

CA has also made a minor change to session timings for the upcoming Sheffield Shield season.

Previously, the first two sessions lasted two hours each, while the final session could be extended to two-and-a-half hours. Under the new arrangement, an additional 15 minutes will be added to the second session, meaning the second and third sessions will each last two hours and 15 minutes when the full extra hour is required.

The change follows feedback that the final session had become too long, particularly because slow over-rates frequently resulted in an extended final session and two drinks breaks.

The adjustment could also create more opportunities for spin bowling during the middle session, an area that has declined in the Shield in recent seasons.

"This was in response to a submission," Roach said. "There might be an opportunity here to look at things a different way and get a marginal gain in terms of it being a bit easier to bat at a certain time of day, and maybe a few more opportunities for the spinners."

CA will also retain the injury substitution rule for the upcoming Shield season after its successful introduction last summer.

However, there are currently no plans to alter the competition's bonus-point system or toss rules. Roach acknowledged that 22 of 31 Shield matches last season saw teams choose to bowl first, but said CA had no immediate plans to make changes.

The broader pitch strategy, meanwhile, represents a significant shift in emphasis as Australian cricket looks to improve the balance between bat and ball and ensure the domestic game continues to produce Test-ready batters.