But Burdett admitted that he is very fond of Tendulkar, and wants the maestro to score a hundred here, just as he had the privilege of watching Brian Lara score a big ton in his last Test in Australia here. “That would be great, if Sachin gets a hundred. He’s a fantastic batsman, I enjoy watching him bat. It would be a great fulfillment for me to have seen Lara and Sachin both waving Australia goodbye with a big century. Lara needed 118 to get past the world record, and he scored a big one here. Now, I hope Sachin does that as well,” he said.

With 30 years of experience, and handling 15 hectres of turf which includes five cricket pitch squares and ovals, two bowling lawns, 65 practice cricket pitches and six tennis grass courts, Burdett has seen it all.

He believes curators has a responsibility towards cricket world wide. “Sometimes my juniors ask me what drives me on for so long in this profession. I would say the fear of failure, of not being able to hand out a good sporting wicket. I conducted many workshops with Kapil Dev in India and all curators in India told me one thing. What would you do when there are instructions to prepare a wicket to your team’s liking? I have never prepared wickets for Australia or South Australia, and that’s what everybody should do. Ninety-nine per cent of the time, it’s the best team that eventually wins, so why not prepare a good wicket where the quality of cricket is supreme,” he asks.

... contd.