Gav on Kilbirnie Park

Gavin Larsen's most recent column for the Black Caps website looks at the issue of pitches. Gavin humbly notes that if he had been born in Australia he would probably not have made it as a first-class, let alone test, cricketer. He attributes his rise to the top to New Zealand's "underprepared, soft, slow, seaming decks". So you would assume he thinks those wickets are a good thing right? Wrong. Gav blames them for New Zealand's "coveyer belt of medium-pacers and block/slog batsmen". And I agree, that conveyer belt is a very bad thing. Fast bowlers and spinners do not prosper on soft and slow pitches. And batsmen who grow up without facing quality bowling, don't develop the technique to deal with anything other than military medium seamers.