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Hamilton pitch doctored to suit New Zealand - Jerome Jayaratne

by Manuj Sharma Wednesday 16 December 2015

Sri Lanka interim coach Jerome Jayaratne believes the pitch at Seddon Park has more than 18mm of grass on it.

©REUTERS / Action Images

Sri Lanka interim head coach Jerome Jayaratne said that the pitch in Hamilton, venue for the second Test against New Zealand, has been doctored with grass to suit the home team.

Having lost the first Test against New Zealand by 122 runs, Sri Lanka head into the second game facing a must-win situation.

Seddon Park in Hamilton traditionally aids spin which is one of the reasons why Sri Lanka have packed their squad with three spinners.

However, Jayaratne on Wednesday revealed that there is at least 18mm of grass which has been laid on the pitch to aid swing and movement.

“My intelligence tells me that it has been known to take spin as the game goes on," said Jayaratne.

"But I am assuming here that the wicket has been doctored to suit the New Zealanders, which is understandable.

“There is more than 18 millimetres of grass on the wicket."

Seddon Park's assistance to spin has been evident with former New Zealand left-arm-spinner Daniel Vettori being the leading wicket-taker at the venue with 39 wickets from 13 games.

While the likes of Harbhajan Singh and Muttiah Muralitharan have enjoyed bowling here with averages of 17.50 and 17.90 respectively, Sunil Narine and Abdur Rehman picked up six wickets each in the game in their last visit.

Sri Lanka can select from Rangana Herath, who has been phenomenal with 295 Test wickets in 66 matches, Dilruwan Perera and the uncapped Jeffrey Vandersay.

Predicting that the Hamilton pitch will have more assistance for the seamers, Jayaratne is wary of the moisture in the pitch.

"I think this pitch will have a lot more bounce and carry than the one in Dunedin.

"They're looking for a lot of moisture and sideways movement.

“I think it will be different from the Hamilton wickets before.

“As the game goes on, it might slow down, but for now there's a lot of grass on the track."

In the two games Sri Lanka have played in Hamilton previously, they have lost one while managing to draw the other encounter against New Zealand.