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FIRST it was gluing the pitch in Mumbai, now the International Cricket Council is planning to spray the outfield at the Mohali ground for tonight's New Zealand-Pakistan game to prevent dew.
Australia captain Ricky Ponting had said one of the reasons for dropping spin bowler Brad Hogg for last weekend's game against England in Jaipur was because Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan had struggled in Jaipur on October 17 in the match against Pakistan because he couldn't grip the ball properly in the evening dew.
But cricket's world governing body has embarked on a novel method of taking the dew out of the equation.
"A chemical already employed in the farming industry, is set to be used in Mohali on Wednesday in an attempt to reduce the amount of dew that forms on the outfield during day-night matches," an ICC statement read.
"APSA-80, manufactured by Indian company Amway, will be sprayed on the outfield ahead of the match between New Zealand and Pakistan.
"The chemical is not expected to eradicate dew completely, but it is hoped it will reduce it significantly."
ICC manager of cricket David Richardson said the dew issue had been a major talking point during the Champions Trophy tournament in India this month.
"Although it has not played a major role in the ICC Champions Trophy so far we are keen that should remain the case for the rest of the tournament and that every match should be a fair contest between bat and ball," Richardson said.
He said a great deal of work had been done on the topic of dew reduction in South Africa.
"We were made aware of that work and that led us to APSA-80," he said.
Richardson said the tournament technical committee, which he chairs, has approved the measure and if it is successful the spraying method will be used at other venues where dew is expected to form.
He said the procedure is not believed to have any effect on the ball.
"We will also be ensuring that outfields are not watered on the day of a match and that they are cut shorter to reduce the amount of grass that is available for dew to cling to," he said.
ICC pitch expert Andy Atkinson supervised the spraying of PVA glue on the pitch at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai to make the wicket hold together for 100 overs of the New Zealand-Sri Lanka game last Friday after earlier matches on the pitch produced low-scoring matches and difficult batting conditions.
