Cricket Pitch Conditions

Type of cricket pitch

Green Pitches

🧸Sometimes referred to as 'graveyards' for batsmen, these wicket🐷s have a thin layer of grass. They will be less hard than other pitches, and the surface is less even.

Batsmen cannot reliably judge the movement of the ball when it pitches. Like on damp or wet 🎃pitches, bowlers can extract more bounce and more action.

Swing and seam movement really comes into play here with the♛ ball sliding off the surface, and it's not uncommon to see fast deliveries almost 'die' wඣhen they bounce.

Because the surface is softe♓r, the ball stays in better condi💯tion for much longer, allowing swing bowlers to enjoy more success.

The batter is under constant pressure on green pitches and will play late to give themselves the best chance of not being caught out by th🍨e bounce. Frustration builds for the batter, and you will often see rash batting at💖tempts from inexperience or impatient players.

There are mixed results for spinners, though. Hagley Oval in New 🌳Zealand is a very green pitch but is known for having the worst average for spinners. In 2020, put the average for spinners at a massive 59.78.

On the other hand, Lancaster Park in Christchurch - the same city as Hagley Oval - averaged 28.17 for spinners befor🥀e it was closed in 2011.

In warm-up games for the 2019 World Cup in England, it was noticeable how spinners struggled 𒉰at the Oval but were dominant at Southampton.

Test matches 🅰in England - especially the likes of the Oval♓, Trent Bridge and Lord's - Australia, and South Africa are the best places to see examples of green pitches.

Betting angles:

• Fast, medium-fast bowlers and seamers have their ideal conditions
• Look at previous results at the ground to see how spinners have traditionally fared - don't assume they will also flourish on green pitches as big regional differences exist
• Matches are usually low scoring with lots of wickets falling - betting on the unders line of total runs can be profitable

Damp pitch

A d🌊amp wicket is one where moisture remains. The ball slows down after pitching and generally remains low.

Batsmen need to anticipate a lesser bounce, sudden loss of pace and skidding, meaning t💃he ball is typically taken late. All types of bowlers can enjoy success on a damp pitch, with bat🎉smen vulnerable to pace, swingers, seamers, and spinners.

Look out for games in England that start early in the morning or take place in rain-affec𝄹ted conditions.

Dew and water remain on the pitch and for the few hours atཧ least - depending on what the temp🗹erature is - you can expect a low-scoring start to the game with batsman cautious. Top bowlers will also be in their element here.

Often IPL matches and many other cricket gameಌs ar🤪e day/night matches Humidity and moisture in the evening/night air starts to get into the pitch and can have a significant effect on a game.

The team that bats first 🌸often has an advantage here - the team batting second will have to deal with the worsening conditions.

However, bear in mind that a lot of moisture also affects the bowler's grip. This can lead to a lot of no-balls and poor d🐎eliveries which batsmen can punish.

Betting angles:

• Batsmen are vulnerable to all types of deliveries and will usually adopt a defensive style of play in the hope conditions improve - big totals are unlikely
• Fast bowlers thrive with the ball swinging and moving in the air at random - back a fast bowler to be top wicket-taker
• Expect low batting totals, large runs chases are difficult, and this can be a significant factor in drawn Tests

Dead Pitches

Most mꦦodern-day wickets are now dead pitches, following a general move to make cricket more batsmen-friendly.

These wickets are d🃏ark brown and extremely hard, with no green grass on them. Groundsmen will even use rollers to extract as much water as possible. These ar🅠e also known as flat tracks.

Here spinners are the most effective, but the best batsmen can quickly adapt and read the pitch in the sa♓me way the spinner tries to.

Fast bowlers used to delivering short ꧙tosses that race off the ground and up꧃ into the batsman are thwarted by the lack of spring. Short bowls are therefore easily punished.

In response, they must adapt their throw to fulဣl-pitched, but it's tough to judge 𝄹the length, especially at unfamiliar grounds.

It's wh📖y English and A❀ustralian pace bowlers typically struggle on tours to the subcontinent.

Dead pitches are most suitable for T20 cricket and ODIs, allowing teams to build hౠigh scores and leading to eꦺxciting matches.

Test cricket is not well-suited to dead pitches as wickets don't fall regularly enoﷺugh and it results in tactical matchesജ.

Betting angles:

• Fast bowlers are ineffective, but don't fall into the trap of thinking spinners are much more successful - in short, concentrate on the abilities of the batsmen
• These pitches are a paradise for the big hitters. The team with the strongest batting line-up has a huge advantage and betting on big innings is the correct approach
• In Test matches, look out for in-play opportunities - the draw is a runner, and even average teams can frustrate far superior ones

Dry and Dusty Pitches

Like dead pitches, dus⛦ty pitches are a familiar sight in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The surface is soft and isn't rolled, which lets the ball grip and turn.

Naturally, spinners have their ideal conditions and its one of the reasons India is known for their spin bowlers. And their reliance on this style of bowling often leav♎es them vulnerable when they travel as the country doesn't produce many good fast bowlers.

Dry pitches that are 💧unrolled crack in the heat, and this gives benefit to spinners with batsmen facing extremely unpredictable bounces.

Spin bowlers are also in demand on these pitches because the batsmen must exert much more effort to score runs than if they were facing fast balls༒. Spinners are key in slowing down the scoring rates of big hitters.

Bear in min♐d, a dry pi🦩tch during the day is only going to get drier. As conditions get drier, spinners are more effective, and a batsman will find things tougher.

However, do not fall into the trap of assuming batsmen are always going to be on the back foot. Captains that win the toss will🐼 nearly always elect to bat first with conditions🌌 more favourable, so the second team batting is going to be more inconvenienced.

But eve♊n then, the best batters will soon adapt to conditions and dry pitches l൲et them commit to shorts early as the ball comes to bat at a nice level. Dry pitches often witness high-scoring matches.

Chris Ga♒yle and David Warner are particularly effective against spinners.

Betting angles:

• A batsman lining up after a few hours of play will be at a disadvantage to those who batted earlier. Conditions become more favourable to spinners, and the player in the crease must read the wicket fast - oppose inexperienced batsman in the betting market
• The team chasing down a big total can be frustrated by spinners slowing down the ball and the game - assess conditions and consider in-play bets on the unders total runs
• But don't get caught up in thinking that spinners are king here - at elite level cricket, batsmen adjust quickly, and spinners bowl at a slow pace meaning the best hitters do still score heavily