Simon Doull urges top officials to ‘keep their noses out’ of cricket pitches

Former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull has urged the top officials of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to ‘keep their noses out’ of managing cricket pitches. 

“Let the ground staff do their job properly,” Doull said on the Pitch Side show during the second Test between Pakistan and New Zealand on Wednesday in Karachi. “The people above, the hierarchy, have just got to leave their noses out of it.” 

Doull was disappointed with the pitch in the ongoing match between the two teams at National Bank Cricket Arena. “It offers nothing. There is no grass on it. There is no seam movement, and there is no carry,” he said.

“You are picking a guy like Mir Hamza who has a terrific first-class record. You pick guys who perform well at that level, but they come and bowl on this road. You can’t expect them to do the same job that they're doing at the first-class level if you're going to produce these types of surfaces.” 

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The famous Kiwi commentator said Pakistan should produce same wickets for Tests as they do for the first-class cricket. “That would assist the bowlers and assist Pakistan cricket,” he said. 

Earlier Shahid Afridi, PCB’s interim chief selector, had promised to develop a “bouncy wicket” for the second Test but was not satisfied with the results later. 

Pakistan Cricket Board has been under fire this year for its poor-quality flat pitches that provided no assistance to fast bowlers in the series against Australia and England.

 Last month, the Rawalpindi pitch received a “below average” rating from International Cricket Council for the second time.