With the Ashes 2023 coming up soon, both England and Australia will want to be at their best for the highly anticipated Test series. England is hosting the five-game series, so the team’s captain, Ben Stokes, was recently asked what kind of fields he would like for the games.
Stokes said that the team had been clear with the ground staff about what kind of surface they wanted. He said that they had asked for fast and flat tracks for the upcoming Ashes series. But Gary Barwell, who is in charge of the sports field and grounds at Edgbaston, where the first Test will be played, said that he had not heard from Ben Stokes about what kind of pitches he wanted.
“I was on vacation in Miami when the clip was sent to me. I know they want good pitches because that’s all I’ve ever been told, and I don’t think that’s unusual. Since I’ve been here, no one has ever asked me to make a pitch for England. Gary Barwell was described in The Guardian as saying, “I’m only asked to make a good cricket pitch.”
ECB has never been there. Barwell
Barwell also said that the quality of pitches has gotten a lot better in recent years, and he thought that Premier League football has helped England’s cricket pitches hit new levels.
“Football has money, of course it does, but the Premier League has really helped raise the level of play. They support the grounds manager, and I think that in cricket, the progress on the pitches has been made more in spite of the ECB than because of it. Rugby is a lot like the Premier League in that the goal is to have a great pitch. Barwell said, “The level of research and communication with ECB groundsmen has not been at that level.”
India
