02 January,2012 09:06 AM IST | | Sai Mohan
Australia stalwart Michael Hussey has a lot to be worried about. Firstly, having visited the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) yesterday, he felt that the surface here resembled the traditional one that assisted batsmen and spinners. Secondly, he was worried that the stars were aligning for Sachin Tendulkar to complete a ton of hundreds in the second Test starting tomorrow.
Mike Hussey
Hussey's remark came just 24 hours after coach Mickey Arthur and curator Tom Parker estimated the surface to continue assisting quicks. "Just from walking across the ground, it (the pitch) looks a lot less green than it has been over the last few years (against Pakistan and England)," Hussey told reporters yesterday.
"Definitely, in the last few years, I think the Sydney pitch has changed texture from when it used to be ufffd a real dust bowl that helped the spinners. It always helped batsmen from the subcontinent a lot more. However, in the last few years the pitch has been really seamer friendly, and there's been overhead conditions to help that as well.
"However, this time around, I can see a lighter colour to the pitch. It looks a lot closer to the traditional SCG wicket," he added. Hussey called the centenary SCG Test as a special occasion, but was wary of Tendulkar getting his elusive milestone.
"It's a special occasion for everyone. I remember playing the 100th MCG Test a few years ago, that was very special too. The SCG is my top two favourite grounds in the world. It's a great achievement for the ground.
But, I am a bit nervous as the stars seem to be aligning with Sachin ufffd who is just one away from that 100th ton. It's the 100th Test match in Sydney, and he's made lots of runs here before. It's a little bit ominous really... hopefully we can make him wait until after this series and he can get a 100 in the first game of the next series that he plays," he said.
