batsmen can expect another bumpy ride in Adelaide

The Adelaide Oval curator will seek to juice up what has traditionally been a docile pitch for the second Ashes Test between Australia and England next week, meaning batsmen may be in for a torrid opening. Damian Hough said he would leave grass on the refurbished stadium’s new drop-in pitch to make it more bouncy in the opening days of the match starting on December 5. “We are planning to have something early. From our end, we are trying to get as much pace and bounce as we can,” Hough said in comments published by Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper on Tuesday. “We will look at leaving a little grass on it just to assist with making it a competitive wicket.” The Adelaide Oval has traditionally been batsman-friendly wicket.