Last Updated on 5 months ago by Charbel Coorey

The Perth pitch for the first Ashes Test could play similarly to the 2024 Border-Gavaskar Trophy match a year ago. That is according to head curator Isaac McDonald, who said that surface is ideal.

In that match, 17 wickets fell on day one. Australia bowled India out for 150 and that is where their joy ended. Jasprit Bumrah and India ran rampant, reducing the hosts to 67/7 by stumps to open up the game.

Isaac McDonald reveals Perth pitch plan for first Ashes Test

Macdonald said the focus is not producing a pitch that ensures a Test lasts five days. Rather, he wants the best possible balance between bat and ball.

“As long as us as a curating team try to produce the best surface we can given the circumstances, then that’s our job well done. If we’ve done our absolute best and we’ve executed our plans and are really happy with the end result,’ McDonald told CODE Sports.

“We don’t score the runs or bowl the balls for anyone playing on it, and that’s kind of how we look at it. We don’t really base our success as a groundskeeping team off the result. And we kind of base our success off how well we executed our plans and if the plans were suitable for that time.

“I don’t know if pressure really comes into it at all. I certainly don’t make a (Sheffield) Shield wicket, ‘Oh, this has to go for four days’. Definitely, it’s not playing on my mind how long the game goes. Execute our plans and make sure that’s an absolute cracker, and it’s the best pitch we can produce for that period of time as well.”

McDonald spoke about the pitch for the Australia-India Test. After 17 wickets fell on day one, the surface eased out and India cashed in with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli scoring centuries.

“I think last year (is the one to replicate), albeit, 50 per cent of the wickets fell on day one, the characteristics of that pitch were pretty close,” McDonald said.

“I reflect on that Test match, and there were hundreds and there were five-fers, I mean, that’s a really nice kind of reflection that I look back on. If I took that wicket (which was) eight mil (of grass), if I cut it for six, I don’t think I’m slowing down the pace of that game, regardless if it’s that six (mm),” McDonald continued.

“The build-up to that Test and how good Bumrah was, I think everything Test prep pitch preparation wise, is kind of almost null and void. Like, there’s nothing else left to be done. That’s just almost how the game was going to play out, right? It was just unbelievable.”

Perth Stadium track could be good for batting even from day one

However, cooler conditions in Perth in the leadup to the Ashes has put a different spin on pitch preparation. In hot weather, curators water the pitch more to ensure the surface holds up for longer periods. With the weather expected to be mild throughout the Test, it is not as essential to leave more moisture in the pitch.

“The pitch itself… they don’t need to leave as much moisture in it, it’s not that hot in Perth at the moment,” said Adam Collins on The Final Word Podcast which was recorded at the stadium.

“It’s unseasonably mild, and the curator here has said that they can afford to leave not quite as much moisture in. So, you would think that would mean it would be even better for batting on day one whereas last year (against India), it was going to be hot, they left far more moisture in, and that meant in sessions one and two, it (the ball) did bits.”

Isaac McDonald’s job is on the line after Ashes pitch comments – Ian Healy

Former keeper-batsman Ian Healy was critical of McDonald’s comments. In his column for Sports Nation NZ, Healy wrote that 50% of the wickets shouldn’t fall on day one.

“Early on Day 2, the world’s two best batting orders were out for 150 and 104 respectively,” Healy wrote. “That surely can’t be the best surface his team can prepare. If it happens again, Cricket Australia won’t be happy.”

“Jasprit Bumrah took 8 wickets. Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal made hundreds. That’s a balance between bat and ball, according to McDonald.

“But this needs to be a balance over a much longer period, don’t have 50 per cent of the wickets taken falling in one day.”

The team batting first has won every Test so far at Perth’s Optus Stadium. If faced with another fast, bouncy pitch, it will be an interesting decision for the captain who wins the toss on November 21.