Cricket mats: not an Aussie favourite
Cricket pitch mats are a common sight at local matches. However, did you know that for a long time even Test cricket was played on these? Their ouster from formal cricketing events can partially be attributed to former US President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
This story also involves two other historic figures — former Pakistan President Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan and legendary cricketer and commentator Richard ‘Richie’ Benaud.
The year was 1959. The Australian cricket team was on a Pakistan tour. By this time, all other cricketing countries had stopped the use of matting wickets for test cricket but in Pakistan, they were still very common. Benaud, the Aussie captain, had his apprehensions about these carpet-like wickets.
Benaud believed that the matting wickets could be tampered with. Legend goes that he made one of his men sleep at the ground on the eve of each Test match just to ensure its integrity. Moreover, during the previous Australian tour of Pakistan, Australian fast bowlers had suffered injuries due to matting wickets.
By the time the tour party arrived in Karachi for the third and final test, Australia had already sealed the series by winning the first two tests. Despite that, Benaud’s well-aired dislike for matting wickets remained and he was not impressed to see the matting laid down at Karachi’s National Stadium.
A stately coincidence
Incidentally, the then US President Dwight D. Eisenhower, had also been touring Pakistan at the same time. He was an avid sports fan and hence, Ayub Khan invited him to watch the 4th day’s play of the test match.
The end of matting wickets
At the end of the day’s play, the two state leaders met the players. ‘I thought cricket was played on grass rather than a mat’, said Eisenhower, according to Benaud’s book ‘Willow Patterns’. However, many believe it was rather Benaud himself who nudged the conversation in that direction.
Following this remark, an embarrassed Ayub Khan immediately issued orders for turf wickets to be installed in every first-class ground in the country. Thus were removed the last traces of matting wickets from all major cricketing nations.
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