Sutherland says CA not to exploit Oz pitches to seek 'home advantage'

Cricket Australia (CA) boss James Sutherland has said that Australia will not roll out its pitches during the winter Ashes series to exploit England's weaknesses like England did during the summer series.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Sutherland took the moral high ground in the pitch wars a week before the series began in Brisbane, saying that in the nine Test matches they played in India and England, they have seen neither grass nor moisture on the pitches.

Sutherland explained CA's mission at domestic level to improve Sheffield Shield pitches to provide more opportunities for spinners, for batsmen to build long innings, and for batsmen to get better at playing spin, and said that said curators would not be given any directive, subtle or otherwise, to produce pitches to suit Australia's fast bowlers.

Stating that Australia is not looking for an advantage with their pitches, Sutherland said that they have great confidence in their players' abilities, adding that they want fans to see a good contest between bat and ball and are aware each pitch has its own characteristics, which they want to continue.

Sutherland also said that exploiting a home soil is not good for cricket, adding that some of the pitches they have played on over the last six months have not been conducive to entertaining and high-quality cricket.