Will drop-in pitches harm the 2027 Cricket World Cup?

Drop-in pitches are being installed at several grounds around South Africa, like Newlands, The Wanderers and St George’s Park.

With a heavy schedule of international cricket on its way and the small matter of a World Cup later next year, what are the implications of these drop-in pitches?

To understand the sudden anxiety rippling through South African cricket circles, one must first understand what a drop-in pitch is and how it functions.

 

Unlike a traditional cricket wicket, which is curated and grown directly on the stadium block over decades, a drop-in pitch is a modular playing surface grown completely off-site or adjacent to the ground in large steel trays.

When required, these heavy trays are transported by massive cranes and literally “dropped” into a pre-excavated slot in the middle of the stadium.

Also read: When will India let go of Gautam Gambhir?

The logistical advantages of this system are precisely why Cricket South Africa (CSA) has pushed for this major transformation. In multi-purpose modern stadiums, traditional turf pitches limit a venue’s utility.

A permanent cricket square cannot survive a heavy concert or a rugby match without sustaining severe, sometimes permanent damage.

Drop-in technology allows a stadium to host a massive entertainment event on a Friday night, roll out the stage, drop in a fresh cricket pitch on a Tuesday, and have a match-ready surface by the weekend.

As Evan Flint, the former head groundsman at both Newlands and Wanderers said, drop-ins allow groundsmen to cultivate multiple pitches simultaneously off-site and rotate them as needed to handle high-traffic domestic and international fixtures.

However, cricket is a unique sport where the surface dictates the entire strategic flow of the game, and this is where the downsides become glaring.

Historically, South African cricket grounds have boasted fiercely distinct personalities. If you visit The Wanderers in Johannesburg, you expect steep, hostile bounce.

If you head down to Newlands in Cape Town, you brace for a surface that assists lateral movement and eventually takes turn. These unique characteristics are a product of local soil composition, regional weather patterns, and years of natural weathering.

Drop-in pitches threaten to homogenise the sport. Because they are grown in artificial trays under highly controlled conditions, they frequently lack the deep-rooted sub-soil character of traditional squares for ODI cricket.

The result is often a surface that plays incredibly flat, offering plenty of runs for batsmen but agonizingly little assistance for bowlers.

We saw a catastrophic example of this during the 2024 T20 World Cup in New York, where poorly settled drop-in pitches were heavily criticised for highly unpredictable and substandard behaviour for T20 cricket.

This brings us to the ultimate question: will this shift be a help or a hindrance? Proteas head coach Shukri Conrad has made his stance transparently clear, expressing deep disquiet.

Speaking to IOL Sport, Conrad warned that installing these drop-in pitches across major venues could completely “nullify” the Proteas’ home advantage ahead of the 2027 World Cup.

Conrad’s concerns are entirely valid. Winning a World Cup on home soil requires exploiting the unique intricacies of your own backyard; intricacies that local players understand intimately and which visiting teams fear.

If South Africa rolls out flat, uniform drop-in wickets that mimic neutral venues like Dubai or Melbourne, they effectively hand an advantage to powerhouse subcontinental batting lineups.

While venue flexibility and stadium revenue are essential for the financial survival of the sport, they should never come at the cost of competitive advantage.

If CSA forces the Proteas to play the 2027 World Cup on untested, characterless trays, they may find they have fixed a commercial problem while breaking South Africa’s best shot at global glory – and let’s face it, South Africa needs every possible advantage it can grab if it is to finally break its duck and win a Cricket World Cup.

Read next: England and India’s most classic white-ball finishes

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7 completed Tests with the lowest aggregate scores – where does Mackay mayhem rank?

When heading to a Test, cricket fans usually expect boundaries, centuries, and days of intense battle under the sun. However, every so often, the red ball dominates the willow so ruthlessly that a five-day match wraps up in the blink of an eye and for just a handful of runs.

This weekend, history was rewritten in Mackay during the second Test match between Australia and Bangladesh.

In a staggering display of bowling dominance, and let’s be honest, vengeance, the match concluded with a remarkably low total aggregate, instantly booking its place among the shortest completed Tests ever played.

Fascinatingly, this extreme brand of low-scoring cricket is something of an Australian specialty.

The boys from Down Under feature in all but one of the seven lowest-scoring matches in the long history of the format.

From the treacherous, uncovered pitches of the 19th century to modern-day collapses, let’s look at the seven completed Test matches with the lowest aggregate number of runs scored.

1. Australia v South Africa (Melbourne, 1932) – 234 runs

Winner: Australia

The gold standard for ball dominating bat occurred at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in February 1932. Australia and South Africa combined for a mere 234 runs. The match was completely dominated by the bowlers on a treacherous, rain-affected pitch.

A staggering 29 wickets fell across the brief contest, while the teams made it through just 109.2 overs in total.

South Africa were bundled out for scores of 36 and 45, enabling Australia to wrap up an easy innings victory despite scoring a modest 153 all out in their only turn at bat. It remains the lowest aggregate score in a completed Test.

2. England v Australia (Lord’s, 1888) – 291 runs

Winner: Australia

The historic rivalry between England and Australia has produced legendary high-scoring sagas, but their 1888 tour saw the exact opposite. Playing at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground, the batsmen were utterly helpless against the moving ball.

The maximum of 40 wickets fell as both sides were rolled over twice in rapid succession. Across 198 overs of intense, attritional cricket, the two sides cobbled together a tiny aggregate of just 291 runs.

Australia eventually emerged victorious by 61 runs, but the match is remembered as a brutal examination of batting technique on an unpredictable surface.

Also read: How good was Hasan Mahmud? The 7 best Test bowling performances against Australia this century

3. New Zealand v Australia (Wellington, 1946) – 295 runs

Winner: Australia

When Australia crossed the Tasman Sea to face New Zealand in Wellington just after World War II, nobody anticipated a match that would finish before it even had a chance to breathe.

In March 1946, the Basin Reserve witnessed a chaotic affair where only 295 runs were scored in total. Bowlers on both sides feasted on the green conditions, picking up 28 wickets in just 145.2 overs.

New Zealand were skittled for a paltry 42 in their first innings and 54 in their second. Australia’s first-innings declaration at 199 for 8 proved more than enough to secure a crushing victory.

4. West Indies v England (Bridgetown, 1935) – 309 runs

Winner: England

This is the only entry on our list that does not feature the Australian national team, proving that historical collapses can happen to anyone. In January 1935, Kensington Oval in Bridgetown became a graveyard for batsmen during a bizarre clash between the West Indies and England.

Due to a severely waterlogged and sticky wicket, both captains tactically declared their innings early to force the opposition back out to bat in terrible conditions.

A total of 29 wickets fell in just 112.0 overs, with the match aggregating 309 runs. England narrowly chased down a target of 75 to win by 4 wickets.

5. England v Australia (Manchester, 1888) – 323 runs

Winner: England

The 1888 Australian tour of England was so notoriously bowler-friendly that it occupies two spots on this list. Just weeks after the low-scoring madness at Lord’s, the action moved to Old Trafford in Manchester, yielding a similarly brief contest.

Batting remained an impossible chore as 30 wickets were lost for a combined total of 323 runs. The match lasted only 197.0 overs.

This time, England exacted their revenge on the touring Australians, riding home on a masterful bowling display from Bobby Peel (who claimed 11 wickets in the game), to seal a comprehensive victory by an innings and 21 runs.

6. England v Australia (The Oval, 1882) – 363 runs

Winner: Australia

This legendary encounter at Kennington Oval is not just famous for its incredibly low aggregate score; it is also the historic birthplace of “The Ashes.” In August 1882, Australia managed to score only 63 and 122, setting England a modest target of 85 runs for victory.

In a thrilling, nerve-wracking finale, the English batting lineup crumbled under immense pressure, falling short by 7 runs.

A total of 363 runs were scored, 40 wickets tumbled, and 269.3 overs were bowled, prompting a British newspaper to publish the famous mock obituary celebrating the death of English cricket.

7. Australia v Bangladesh (Mackay, 2026) – 369 runs

Winner: Australia

The newest entry into this historic hall of infamy happened far more recently than the other games on this list. After being crashed by Bangladesh in the Darwin in the opening game of a two-match series Australia were hungry for revenge when they arrived in Mackay.

Facing off in a highly anticipated Test match, neither Australia nor Bangladesh found an answer to a hyper-responsive pitch and relentless bowling attack. The entire match flew by in just 125.0 overs, with 30 wickets falling across the short-lived contest.

The final aggregate settled at 369 runs, officially making it the seventh lowest-scoring completed Test match in the sport’s long history and proving that bowler dominance is far from a thing of the past.

Read next: Masterful milestones – the 7 highest Test scores against Australia down under since 2000

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Root delivers perfect riposte to captaincy doubters as England hammer Pakistan

Root delivers perfect riposte to captaincy doubters as England hammer Pakistan

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Brook falls agonisingly short of Headingley hundred again as England continue to dominate

Brook falls agonisingly short of Headingley hundred again as England continue to dominate

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Robinson demolishes Pakistan to cement importance to new regime

Robinson demolishes Pakistan to cement importance to new regime

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Shadows and glory – 5 iconic England vs Pakistan Test masterclasses

England are set to host Pakistan in a three Test series with games scheduled to be held at Headingley, Lords and Edgbaston. There have been many epic encounters between these two nations since Pakistan made their first foray into Test cricket back in 1952.

To date England and Pakistan have played each other 92 times with England winning 30 and Pakistan 23.

There have been 39 draws. Let’s take a moment to look back through the archives as we remember five of the all-time best performances from games between these two rivals.

1. The magician of The Oval: Fazal Mahmood (1954)

In only their fourth Test match on English soil, a young Pakistani side achieved the unthinkable by defeating a powerhouse England team at The Oval. The architect of this legendary victory was medium-pacer Fazal Mahmood.

In a low-scoring game, on a damp, treacherous surface, Mahmood bamboozled the English batsmen with his deadly leg-cutters. He picked up phenomenal figures of 6/53 in the first innings and backed it up with an even better 6/46 in the second.

His match haul of 12 for 99 secured a historic 24-run victory, proving that Pakistan belonged on the world stage.

2. The golden arm and the double-ton at Lord’s (1982)

Pakistan had not tasted a Test victory in England for 28 long years until they arrived at Lord’s in the summer of 1982.

While Imran Khan marshalled the side as captain, it was opening batsman Mohsin Khan who laid a magnificent platform for his team by grinding out a masterful, eight-hour 200 in the first innings.

The defining drama, however, came on the final day. With two of Pakistan’s frontline seamers sidelined with injuries, part-time medium-pacer Mudassar Nazar stepped up to produce an unexpected spell that earned him the nickname “The Man with the Golden Arm.”

Nazar tore through the heart of England’s batting order to pick up career-best figures of 6 for 32. His gentle, pinpoint bowling triggered an extraordinary second-innings collapse, sealing a famous 10-wicket victory at the Home of Cricket.

Also read: Masterful milestones – the 7 highest Test scores against Australia down under since 2000

3. Wasim and Waqar’s reverse swing masterclass (1992)

The 1992 tour of England is remembered for introducing the mainstream cricketing world to the dark art of reverse swing. At Lord’s, the legendary duo of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis were at their devastating best.

England had conceded a 38-run lead after the first innings were completed, but they were slowly going about building a useful lead as they reached 148 for five with Alec Stewart well set.

What followed was total carnage as Wasim and Waqar made the old ball talk, producing late, unplayable inswinging yorkers at extreme pace. They took the final five wickets for just 27 runs, bundling England out for 175.

On a deteriorating pitch, the England collapse and the small first innings lead meant Pakistan were just able to squeeze to victory with eight wickets down when they finally got the job done.

Wasim Akram who ended the game with six wickets was the man at the crease, undefeated on 45 when the game came to an end.

4. The Rawalpindi run-fest and Jack Leach’s heroics (2022)

In one of the most bizarre and thrilling Test matches ever played, England’s “Bazball” revolution met the flat tracks of Rawalpindi. England smashed a monumental 657 runs in their first innings at more than six runs an over.

However, the real masterpiece happened on day five. On a lifeless pitch, Ben Stokes made a daring declaration, leaving Pakistan to chase 343.

As the sun set rapidly on the final evening, spinner Jack Leach trapped Naseem Shah LBW with only minutes of light remaining, sealing a famous 74-run win in the dying gloom. In total there were seven centuries scored on a wicket that was a true batter’s paradise.

5. Multan’s historical triple-century: Harry Brook (2024)

History was rewritten in Multan during the 2024 tour. After Pakistan piled on a massive first-innings score of 556, England responded with an aggressive, record-breaking onslaught.

Middle-order dynamo Harry Brook played the innings of his life, blasting a sensational 317 off just 322 balls. Alongside Joe Root (who struck 262), Brook dismantled the Pakistani bowling attack to guide England to a mammoth 823/7 declared.

This incredible batting performance set up an unimaginable innings-and-47-run victory.

Read next: A tale of two timelines – Bangladesh’s golden dawn and Australia’s creaking sunset

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How good was Hasan Mahmud? The 7 best Test bowling performances against Australia this century

Bangladesh opening bowler Hasan Mahmud was in superb form on the opening day of the first Test between Australia and Bangladesh in Darwin as he ripped through the Baggy Green batting line-up, returning figures of six for 55 from his 17 overs.

Playing in just his 15th Test and with a modest career average, the spell represented the best figures of his young Test career. But how do they compare with the great performances produced against Australia in the modern era?

Since 2000, Australia have been one of the most dominant Test cricket sides in world cricket, making outstanding bowling displays against them particularly memorable. Here are seven of the finest innings returns recorded against Australia this century.

1. Stuart Broad: 8 for 15, Trent Bridge, 2015

This remains the benchmark. Broad produced one of the most devastating spells in Test history during the Ashes at Trent Bridge, reducing Australia to 60 all out inside a session.

Swinging the ball late and relentlessly attacking the stumps, Broad claimed eight wickets for just 15 runs in 9.3 overs. It was not merely a great performance against Australia; it was one of the greatest fast bowling displays the game has ever seen.

2. Harbhajan Singh: 8 for 84, Chennai, 2001

Harbhajan’s spell came during the famous 2001 Border-Gavaskar series that changed Indian cricket history.

Bowling on a wearing Chennai surface, he dismantled a powerful Australia batting order that included Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh.

His off-spin, bounce and control were exceptional, and the performance helped India to secure a memorable victory.

Also read: Masterful milestones – the 7 highest Test scores against Australia down under since 2000

3. Anil Kumble: 8 for 141, Kolkata, 2004

Kumble’s figures were far more expensive than the others on this list, but they came in a marathon effort against a formidable Australian side. He bowled tirelessly across a huge innings, taking eight wickets through persistence, accuracy and subtle variation.

It was a classic Kumble performance, built on endurance as much as skill.

4. Ravindra Jadeja: 7 for 42, Delhi, 2023

Another Indian spinner, Jadeja was almost unplayable in Delhi during the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Exploiting turn and variable bounce, he ripped through Australia’s middle and lower order to finish with seven for 42.

The spell highlighted his transformation from a supporting spinner into one of the most complete bowlers in world cricket.

5. Rangana Herath: 7 for 64, Galle, 2016

Herath tormented Australia in Galle with a masterclass in left-arm spin. Using drift, dip and sharp turn, he repeatedly drew Australian batters into mistakes and finished with seven for 64.

The spell underlined why Herath became one of Sri Lanka’s greatest spin bowlers after Muttiah Muralitharan’s retirement.

6. Matt Henry: 7 for 67, Christchurch, 2024

Henry’s performance in Christchurch was a reminder that Australia can still be overwhelmed by high-quality seam bowling in helpful conditions.

Extracting movement off the pitch and through the air, he removed several key batters and kept New Zealand competitive throughout the innings. It was one of the best fast-bowling performances by a New Zealander against Australia in modern times.

7. Shamar Joseph: 7 for 68, Brisbane, 2024

Joseph’s spell at the Gabba was extraordinary for both its quality and its context.

Playing with a painful toe injury, the young West Indian quick produced a spell of pace, aggression and heart to bowl Australia out and secure a famous West Indies victory.

The performance instantly became part of Caribbean cricket folklore.

Where does Hasan Mahmud fit in?

Hasan Mahmud’s six for 55 does not yet displace any of the seven performances above, but it belongs in the conversation. Compared with Broad’s 8 for 15 or Harbhajan’s 8 for 84, it falls short in scale and historical impact.

Yet for a bowler with limited Test experience to take six wickets against Australia on Australian soil is a significant achievement – notably each of the top six best returns were achieved with Australia playing away from home.

What makes Hasan’s effort stand out is the stage. Australia rarely lose early wickets in home conditions, and visiting seamers often struggle for sustained success there.

His six for 55 is already among the best bowling figures by a Bangladeshi bowler against Australia and offers a glimpse of what he might achieve as his career develops.

Read next: A tale of two timelines – Bangladesh’s golden dawn and Australia’s creaking sunset

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