Cricket Australia is changing the message it gives domestic pitch curators, encouraging them to lean towards batters when preparation decisions are finely balanced as concerns grow over the difficulty of batting in Australian red-ball cricket.
The adjustment will apply heading into the upcoming Sheffield Shield season and comes against the backdrop of increasingly short Test matches and declining batting returns. CA is not seeking deliberately batter-friendly pitches, but wants the marginal choices made during preparation to move away from a philosophy that had increasingly favoured bowlers.
Cricket Australia changes its pitch philosophy
Cricket Australia Operations and Scheduling Boss Peter Roach told Cricinfo that the organisation’s approach had evolved over the past decade: “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. Our curators share that view that they want to see the same, and hopefully, I think our teams do as well. But over the last decade, that’s probably been a ‘when in doubt lean towards the bowler’.”
That philosophy emerged during a period when flatter conditions had made batting considerably easier. CA still wants matches to produce results rather than lengthy draws, but the direction of travel has now changed as the balance between the two disciplines has shifted.
Roach outlined the revised message: “But the language that we [now want] to get across to our curators is that ‘if in doubt, favour the batter.’”
Four of Australia’s last 20 home Tests have failed to reach a third day, while three of its last seven home Tests have finished inside two days. The latest was the Australia-Bangladesh Test in Mackay, although that surface had only 3.5mm of grass and was expected to receive a strong ICC rating.
The trend extends into the Sheffield Shield. The highest batting average among the competition’s top 10 run-scorers last season was 36.41, adding another dimension to the debate over whether domestic conditions are providing the right environment for developing future Test batters.
Curators asked to adjust the margins
The change has emerged from a broader examination of Australian red-ball conditions. According to Cricinfo, Roach discussed surfaces with curators from the country’s first-class venues at their annual conference in July, while state coaches also met CA high-performance personnel including national coach Andrew McDonald, Head of National Teams Ben Oliver and Head of Cricket James Allsopp.
Rather than imposing a uniform formula on grounds around the country, CA wants curators to consider whether relatively small adjustments could produce a more even contest.
Roach explained: “And what does that mean in practice? It means that of the many decisions that the curators have got leading into the game, that could be, ‘Do I need to thin the grass out a bit more? Do I need to take another millimetre off? Do I need to give an extra roll?’ It’s not starting with, ‘I want to advantage the batter.’”
That distinction leaves individual curators responsible for responding to weather, previous matches and the characteristics of their venues rather than preparing surfaces to a centrally prescribed template.
Australian batting faces a wider challenge
Pitch preparation is not the only factor under examination. Australian cricket has also been confronting the impact of changes to the Kookaburra ball and the broader evolution of red-ball batting.
A modified Kookaburra featuring a second layer of lacquer and reinforcement to the seam was introduced in Australia in 2019. Steven Smith’s home Test numbers either side of that change illustrate the wider shift in batting outcomes: he averaged 77.25 across 29 home Tests between 2010 and 2019, scoring 13 centuries in 50 innings, compared with 45.53 and six centuries from 61 innings across 35 home Tests since the change.
His away average also declined over those periods, but by a smaller margin, from 57.10 to 45.11.
Speaking to the media during Australia’s 2024-25 home series against India in December 2024, Australia Batter Steven Smith said: “Wickets have got greener, so it’s kind of like the perfect storm coming together. But the ball’s definitely staying harder, so I think the last three years have probably been the hardest that I’ve experienced in my career batting-wise, in terms of the amount of movement that’s being generated.”
Smith also pointed to how expectations around competitive first-innings totals had changed, adding: “If you look back five years ago, you’re seeing consistent 400-500s being scored in the first innings. If you put a three in front of [the score] these days, you’re usually in a pretty strong position.”
Other developments have accompanied those changing conditions. The influence of shorter formats on red-ball batting and the World Test Championship’s emphasis on match results form part of the wider discussion, while the competitive pressure on states seeking Sheffield Shield titles provides another consideration in how domestic cricket is played.
Roach acknowledged that there was no single explanation, saying: “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.”
Sheffield Shield timings also adjusted
CA is making another smaller change to the Sheffield Shield environment by altering session lengths for the coming season.
Previously, Shield matches followed Test-style timings, with two-hour sessions followed by a final session scheduled for two-and-a-half hours. Slow over-rates frequently meant players spent an extended period on the field late in the day.
Under the new arrangement, 15 minutes will move into the middle session when the additional time is required, leaving the second and third sessions at two hours and 15 minutes. The change will also eliminate one drinks break from the final session.
Roach said the adjustment followed a submission rather than forming part of a wider attempt to reshape the competition: “This was in response to a submission. It wasn’t a proactive, ‘Let’s do this to get a massively different outcome’. It was ‘Okay, well, 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 in day, and maybe a few more opportunities for the spinners’.”
CA will also retain the injury-substitution rule introduced last season. No immediate changes are planned to either the Sheffield Shield bonus-point system or toss regulations, despite 22 of 31 matches last season beginning with the winning captain electing to bowl.
The coming Shield season will therefore feature targeted adjustments rather than a fundamental redesign of Australian first-class cricket. CA continues to want pitches that produce results and maintain competition between bat and ball, but its new instruction to favour the batter when preparation decisions are marginal marks a clear change in the philosophy guiding Australian domestic surfaces.
