PORT-OF-SPAIN, February 3: To the relief of everyone involved, the pitch for the second cricket Test between West Indies and England has been described as "low and slow."Bryan Davis, the pitch supervisor at Queen's Park Oval where the match starts on Thursday, says the pitch will be in stark contrast to the unpredictable one ruled unfit at Sabina Park in the abandoned first Test.
Davis, a former West Indies opening bat, predicted that it would be low and slow and would suit medium-pace bowlers Kenny Benjamin and Dean Headley.
Benjamin, from the Leeward islands, was chosen in the West Indies squad to replace Mervyn Dillon, who was injured just ahead of the first Test.
Headley, grandson of the West Indies legend George and son of former West Indies batsman Ron, has been one of the stars of the England tour with 11 wickets, including nine against Jamaica.
Davis said he had had problems with the pitch because there had been no rain in Trinidad and the ground had been use for football untilNovember.
"At the moment there is a lot of grass on it, but we will shave some of that before the game begins," he said.
The pitch has been heavily watered and allowed to dry, in high temperatures, under a tarpaulin.
The nearby strip, which will be used for the third Test, is the one on which Lara made 200 for North Trinidad last month and on which India's Navjot Singh Sidhu made a double hundred in a Test a year ago.
"Work has been done on that pitch in case we had to use it for a Test if Guyana was unable to stage the match," Davis said. Political trouble in Georgetown threatened the match but a pact between the two warring parties has now made it likely the fourth Test will go ahead there.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
