Adelaide might be known as the City of Churches but it can be most unwelcoming for fast bowlers who aren’t prepared to bend their back for long periods and stretch their imagination to the limits.

Batsmen with a thirst for runs look forward to visiting Adelaide and not just because there are actually more pubs in the near vicinity of the Oval than places of worship. The pitch is true and the bounce reliable for the first three days and that’s the time for batsmen to slake their thirst. After that things start to get more interesting for bowlers; the bounce becomes variable, the ball occasionally deviates off the wearing sections of the pitch and the spinners extract some turn.