Bouncy WACA on the cards for first Test

The prospect of a fast, bouncy WACA wicket for the opening Test of the summer is a distinct possibility according to curator Matt Page.

Last year’s surface in Perth was a bowlers’ graveyard that fast-tracked Mitchell Johnson’s retirement, prompting pleas for a lightning pitch like those seen in the glory days of the 1970s.

Those calls may have been answered, and while the wicket for Thursday’s opening Commonwealth Bank Test is unlikely to be as rapid as it was in its heyday, Paige is hopeful of producing a pacey pitch like the one Western Australia and South Australia played on last week, one where the Redbacks’ quicks tore apart the hosts batting order in a 10-wicket thumping.

"Hopefully it'll be something very similar to the last (Sheffield) Shield game we had,” Page told reporters at the WACA Ground on Wednesday.

“There was a bit of bounce there, there was a bit of seam, something there for the bowlers, something there for the batters, there were three hundreds.

“That's sort of what we're looking for this time of year, being November."

Australia captain Steve Smith, who revealed Redbacks speedster Joe Mennie will carry the drinks for the first Test, is still unsure what the WACA wicket will be like after a brief inspection this morning.

“It’s obviously got another day in the sun today and we’ll have another look in the morning,” Smith said.

“I’d like to see it a lot quicker and bouncier than last year, that’s for sure.

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“I thought that played very slow and benign so hopefully a lot more pace and bounce, but we’ll wait and see in the morning.

“There’s still a bit of grass on it, I think he might take a little bit of that off.

“When you look at the WACA wicket I guess you want to see that sheen and when it’s like that it generally goes through.

“That’s what we want to see from a WACA wicket, nice and fast and bouncy.”

While it’s been suggested that other cricket boards around the world influence groundsmen to produce wickets to suit the hosts’ bowling unit, Australia coach Darren Lehmann has repeatedly denied having ever requested a certain type of wicket from a curator.

A fast and bouncy wicket will undoubtedly suit both Test attacks, and Page says the final product come Thursday is of his own creation and not under the guidance of the coach, captain or Cricket Australia.

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"Being the WACA everything we try to produce has that pace and bounce, everyone wants to come here or turn on the TV and see that ball flying through to the wicketkeeper,” Page said.

“That's what we try and prepare - if they came to me and asked for a spinner's wicket I'd be quite concerned."

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