The matter was brought to our notice by the match referee who requested that an exception be made and the Indians' request be accommodated.

It is a good seaming pitch that has a green top. But I would advise the quickies of both the teams not to get carried away and try to pitch the ball up to extract seam movement instead of spraying the ball all over in an effort to bowl fast.

I am standing in the ground at the moment and the weather here is absolutely fabulous. The sun is shining brightly and this will help in preparing a good pitch.

It is always easy to put the blame on the curators if we don't come up to the expectations of those who run and play the game. Good weather and time factor are very crucial all the time.

The way it was made we are happy with. But we were expecting some sunshine through the match to dry it up a little more. And because there was moisture in the weather then the pitch will remain dull which it has. Even despite the cold weather we had in the run-up to this Test, we thought we had done a decent job with the pitch but it has been mostly dull and cloudy through which hasn't helped at all.

We know everyone is disappointed with the first test outcome but we are doing our best to get things right this time. We have worked hard on this pitch and there has been sunshine which is good news.