Simon Lee, who is the head groundsman at Hampshire, has said that he was aiming to prepare a pitch with “pace, bounce and carry” for the World Test Championship (WTC) final between India and New Zealand.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Hampshire Bowl’s head groundsman is aiming to prepare pitch with pace, bonce and carry
• It’s a huge opportunity to prepare pitch for WTC final: Simon Lee
• Lee said that pace makes red-ball cricket even more exciting

An action packed World Test Championship (WTC) final is on cards and the head groundsman at the Hampshire Bowl is aiming for a pitch with “pace, bounce and carry” to ensure that fans are on the edge of their seats throughout the historic summit clash from June 18 and 22.

Simon Lee, who also called himself a cricket fan, said that pace adds the extra excitement in red-ball matches and he was using the “huge opportunity” count by preparing a pitch which can help fans witness “some class batting” or an “amazing spell of bowling”.

“Having the WTC final here at the Ageas Bowl is pretty massive. I feel lucky to have the chance to produce a pitch for potentially the biggest game of test cricket ever staged. It’s a huge opportunity,” Lee told ESPNcricinfo, before outlining his hopes for a pitch he has been working on since late last month.

“For me personally I just want to get something out that has some pace, bounce and carry in the pitch.

“It can be a hard thing to do in England as the weather doesn’t help us most of the time, but the forecast in the build-up is good with a lot of sun, so we are hopeful that we’ll get some pace and a hard pitch without over-rolling it and killing it.

“Pace just makes red-ball cricket exciting. I’m a cricket fan and I want to produce a pitch where the cricket lovers have to watch every ball in case they miss something, be that some class batting or an amazing spell of bowling. A maiden over can be quite exciting if it’s a battle of skill between both bowler and batter.

“So, yeah, if we can get some pace and bounce in the pitch, but not too one-sided towards seam movement, we’ll be happy,” Lee added.

India are trying to acclimatise in the English conditions by playing an intra-squad match ahead of the all-important final of inaugural WTC. New Zealand on the other hand, made lights works of England in the 2nd Test and win the match by 8 wickets to win the series 1-0. The bundled out England for just 122 runs in the 2nd innings.