World Cup Final Pitch Report

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Bracken could thrive on a bouncy track.

By Nick Miller

Before this World Cup, it was something of a lottery to predict what any of the newly-laid pitches were going to do.

As it turned out, most of the tracks were reasonably slow, batsman-friendly and about as unCaribbean as you could get.

That is, apart from Barbados.

Fast bowlers around the world must have breathed a huge sigh of relief when England skittled Bangladesh with some classic back-of-a-length pace work that the young Bengals just couldn't cope with.

Saj Mahmood found a pitch that aided his natural pace and bounce, so if the notoriously unreliable Lancashire quick can extract from juice from the Kensington Oval turf then what will some of the more dependable bowlers in the tournament find?

In Saturday's final, the track is likely to favour the Australians, given that the likes of Glenn McGrath, Nathan Bracken and Shaun Tait thrive on such springy pitches.

While being consistently excellent, Sri Lanka's pace attack is less likely to benefit from such a track. Lasith Malinga's almost horizontal arm makes his angle of delivery so low that he could be threatening on a 'sticky dog' of old, while Chaminda Vaas relies on a nagging line, swing and clever variations for his wickets.

However, saying this is a quick pitch is a relative term. It's not the WACA.

Although it will favour pace - especially early on - spin will also play a crucial role.

West Indies were set for a massive total against England before Michael Vaughan's nagging off-spin halted their progress, and the two best spinners in the tournament - Murali and Brad Hogg - will be on show here.

The captains could well go into the toss with different intentions. Ricky Ponting may choose to bowl first to get the maximum help from the track, while Mahela Jayawardene could bat and unleash Jayasuriya and put the Aussies under early pressure.

Whatever happens, it is perhaps fitting that the Caribbean's first World Cup final will take place on a paceman's track.