For the past several years, the talk surrounding the surface following a home Test for Bangladesh has mainly been about how spin-friendly it is or how it has little to offer bowlers.
However, following the first Test of the two-match series between Bangladesh and New Zealand, the surface at the Sylhet International Stadium has received a lot of good attention, with cricketers, commentators, and spectators applauding its sports qualities.
Tony Hemming, the recently recruited curator of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), oversaw the preparation of the active pitch in Sylhet.
Hemming, who was hired by the BCB on a two-year contract in July, watched the match conclude in the media centre on Saturday morning and appeared pleased with his work.
“Groundsman strives for an even balance of bat and ball.” It was nearly 29 runs per wicket. So it was really close,” Hemming replied, a happy smile on his face.
Hemmings was overjoyed to have helped prepare a surface that resulted in a good Test match.
“Well, there was a bit in there for every aspect of the game.” As a result, everyone had an opportunity to compete. That is what a decent Test pitch looks like. Yeah, it’s great to see the results, but it’s much better to witness fantastic cricket.”
Hemming has an outstanding CV, having served as a soil advisor and consultant for the Western Australia Cricket Association (WACA) as well as the head curator of the ICC Cricket Academy and the Dubai International Stadium.
He is now in charge of developing the Sheikh Hasina International Cricket Stadium in Purbachal, as well as providing curator training sessions.
To summarise, the Australian passed his first test with flying colours.
The Tigers trounced the Kiwis by 150 runs in their first home Test against the opponents, taking a 1-0 lead.
The margin of victory could indicate that the game was played on a standard Bangladeshi rank-turner, where matches are frequently completed by the third day.
However, the fact that the match ended on the fifth day’s morning session suggests that this was not the case.
The pitch in Sylhet bounced virtually the same all five days, with very few instances of the ball staying low.
Although the spinners received some assistance, there were no devils in the wicket, so the bowlers had to work harder to claim their wickets.
The Bangladeshi spinners had the upper hand in this regard, with Taijul Islam taking a match-winning 10-wicket haul.
Both Bangladesh and New Zealand players claimed the pitch behaved well and was hardly a minefield for the hitters.