THE freshly renovated batting surface at Sabina Park has been progressing well, according to Jamaica Cricket Associaton’s interim curator Oneil Cruickshank.

The recently concluded Jamaica Cricket Festival provided the opportunity for Cruickshank and his team to gauge the readiness of the pitch for the arrival of South Africa in less than a month’s time.

“The pitch held up pretty well for a surface having its first competitive game since the renovation. There were no issues with the ball behaving suspiciously and it wasn’t slow. (However), we’re still looking to improve it as we’re still in the developmental phase,” Cruickshank said.

The South Africans will visit Jamaica for the final game in the five-match limited-overs series on June 3 versus the West Indies at Sabina before both teams face off in the first match in the three-Test series at the venue, scheduled to run from June 10-14.

Cruickshank added: “We’re still on target for South Africa, but we have to continue our assessment of the batting square. We still have time to get it even better and we will also have to ensure that the Test pitch can last for five days.”

Cruickshank had told the Sunday Observer in March that the aim is to prepare a hard pitch with grass on top to provide an even battle between bat and ball. Though the two strips used in the four matches played at Sabina during the Festival were almost devoid of grass, he insists more would be visible for the Test match.

He reasoned that given that the matches played during the Festival were One-Day Internationals and Twenty20s, the goal at the time was to provide a surface that favoured the batsmen.

“The grass was cut deliberately to lessen the chance of the bowlers getting the ball to move about too much. The pitch could also have been a bit quicker, but in those shorter formats of the game you don’t want to err too much in favour of the bowlers,” he said.

Jamaica’s chairman of selectors and former West Indies off-spinner Nehemiah Perry told the Sunday Observer he was pleasantly surprised at how well the wicket held up during those matches.

“Given the limited time that was available, I think the wicket played surprisingly well. When pitches are re-laid, they sometimes take a while to settle down and play properly, but during the Festival it seemed good to bat on and there was also a little turn (for the spin bowlers),” he said.

Sabina Park is the home of the Kingston Cricket Club, for which the 41-year-old Perry has been a member since 1983.

“The pitch was hard and though it could be quicker, I was happy with what I saw. It’s looking good and it will provide a fair contest between batsmen and bowlers.

“If you can bat, you will make runs and if you can bowl, you will take wickets. Over the years wickets in the Caribbean have been too sluggish, so what I’m seeing shows a move in the right direction,” Perry added.

In 1998, the first Test of England’s tour of the West Indies was abandoned after less than an hour because the Sabina pitch was deemed dangerous and unfit for play. This led to the entire pitch square being dug up and replaced.

Patrick Gordon, the construction engineer who played a lead role in the rehabilitation of the playing surface after that fiasco, resigned as pitch curator in February last year.

Cruickshank, who has overseen the renovation of the surface in late 2009, has praised the effort of his ground staff.

“I’m yet to hear a negative comment about how the pitch has played for the two strips that were used. We actually got compliments on how well they played. The ground staff did well and other persons who were connected to the preparation can be justifiably proud of what was done,” he beamed.