In its efforts to do better on foreign tours regularly, Pakistan Cricket Board
has decided to provide challenging surfaces to its batsmen at home by laying as
many as 90 bouncy pitches across the country by October this year.
A PCB official said the project was aimed at preparing batsmen, who have been
unable to give their best on bouncy surfaces in places like South Africa
and Australia.
"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 PCB's Chief Operating
Officer Shafqat Hussain Naghmi.
"We should have 90 bouncy pitches in our country by September or October
this year," he was quoted as saying by 'The News'.
He said none of the grounds selected was a Test venue and the
new wickets would be laid in cities like Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Peshawar,
Sheikhupura, Faisalabad and Quetta.
"We are sure that with the help of these new wickets, our batsmen would
be better prepared for foreign tours in the future.
"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." Naghmi also said the PCB was pondering over a novel idea to keep
a check on whether the ground staff at the cricket venues was performing its
duties properly.
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