``The ICC should do what they think is right for Test cricket. The important thing is that they have to sell the game to the public, the sponsor, the television,'' Woolmer opined. ``The ICC should realise that they need to make sure that they keep the game in the forefront of everyone's eyes,'' said the Indian-born Englishman.
About the Rawalpindi wicket, Woolmer said it was favourable to batsmen. Two of the best bowling attacks could get only 16 wickets with only two-and-a-half innings being completed. It wasn't a bad wicket but it was a good batting wicket that made bowling difficult, he said. In the long run, Woolmer continued, if you see every single Test of two-and-a-half innings, Test cricket will become boring and not many people will come and watch the game, he stressed.
``If you have noticed the recently concluded Ashes in England, the result in six Tests was 3-2 with one being affected by rain. So potentially, you had results in six out of six,'' he recalled.
Drawing is part of cricket but when you are chasing a target or saving a game in the fourth innings of the game. The draw must come in four innings but not in two-and-a-half innings, he said. Test cricket presently needs positive results like good wins and tight draws. Cricket in the recent times has changed with Australia winning more games than they lost though I am not sure about the statistics, said Woolmer.
In Woolmer's books, the ideal wicket was which had a little bit pace, bounce and turn on the last two days. ``If you prepare these type of wickets, you can imagine how good cricket would be with batsmen scoring runs and bowlers picking up wickets.
``If you look at the larger picture of promoting the game, then that's the type of surface you will need to play on.'' About the Rawalpindi Test, Woolmer was of the view that the two teams might have been judging the strength of each other. He was optimistic that in Sheikhupura and Faisalabad, there will be results. Woolmer said if Pakistan can win Test matches with spinners and for that they have to shave the grass off the strips, it was their business. I have played on pitches which had even lesser grass than in Rawalpindi, he added.
``Cricketers have to play on whatever surface they get. But what should be tried is there should be a result.''
Woolmer said it would be unsporting if the Test matches finished in two or three days. ``The bottom line is that you have been given five days to produce a result. So I personally feel the results coming in four or half way into the fifth day are pretty good. To prepare unfair pitches is also not right.
``The home board has also to see that they can win at home by preparing pitches that suit them. But when they go out, they face completely different pitches on which they can't handle. What they should do is to make their teams play on different surfaces and in different conditions.''
Woolmer pointed out that in three-Test series, one has to be very brave to prepare wickets that will produce results in all the games or draw the first one and then decide about the next two Tests. Woolmer admitted that the batsmen find it very difficult to adjust to different surfaces specially when the wickets in one country are slow and turning while in the other are hard, bouncy and seaming ones. ``We faced a lot of problems when he went to India last year where we struggled on their slow and dusty wickets.
But when they came to South Africa, they struggled on our hard and bouncy wickets. Somewhere between the two, there should be a balance,'' he said.