Perth's stadium curator Isaac McDonald has altered the pitch on his wish for the first Test between Australia and Pakistan, starting from December 14.
There will be more cracks on the pitch compared to last year which saw Australia win over the Windies in four-and-a-half days while the pitch didn’t break up as quickly as McDonald had hoped for.
However, McDonald is now hoping the pitch will deteriorate faster.
Speaking to CODE Sports, McDonald confirmed he has taken a slightly different approach when preparing the pitch for the first Test and will “take a little bit more grass off the top”.
“My theory is to have it a little bit harder on top and a little bit less grass and see what impact that has on the game,” McDonald said.
“Grass is pace and bounce. That’s what people are looking for and that’s essentially what I’m looking for in a really good long-format wicket.”
Meanwhile, Australian head coach Andrew McDonald is excited about the prospect of a fast wicket and believes his bowling attack “can expose” Pakistan in Perth.
“You talk to the fast bowlers and batters and it’s a good even contest between bat and ball, anytime there is bounce and pace in the surface,” McDonald said.
“If you get in, there are runs a plenty and if you find the right line and length, there’s reward for you as well. It always creates a fair and even contest.
“I think the bounce. As you said, the Gabba presents bounce. Perth presents bounce as well. So I think anytime a team, in particular, coming from the subcontinent, is challenged with that first up, it makes hopefully for a slow start for them. Hopefully we can expose them on a bouncy surface. So that is an advantage.”
Earlier, the Director of the Pakistan cricket team, Mohammad Hafeez, was left disappointed by Australia’s tactics ahead of the three-match Test series.
Hafeez said that the pitch for the four-day practice match in Canberra was really slow.
"To be honest we tick most of the boxes as a team but obviously really surprised and disappointed with the pitch we received for practice match in Canberra. It was the slowest pitch on which we can ever play as a visiting team in Australia. But as a team we are very happy with the preparations we had, most of the boxes are ticked and we are absolutely ready for the exciting challenge coming ahead for us," Hafeez said.
"Everyone knew it. There is no point in repeating it over and over again. The disappointment was really high as we were not expecting such arrangements but it may be their tactics but we are ready for that," he added.