England batter and former West Indies selector Roland Butcher is confident that the pitches at the upcoming T20 World Cup will be significantly different between the US and the Caribbean. The group stages of the tournament will take place in three US venues – New York, Dallas, and Florida – as well as in the Caribbean. Sri Lanka and South Africa will begin their group stage matches in the US before heading to the Caribbean for later rounds.
Butcher, who was the first black player to represent England in 1980, believes that spin bowlers have been particularly successful on Caribbean pitches. Gudakesh Motie took three wickets each in two games against South Africa, highlighting this trend. However, Butcher predicts that spin bowling will still be a significant factor in the Caribbean pitches.
On the other hand, Butcher believes that US pitches will provide some of the best conditions for fast bowling. He suggests that these pitches may resemble Australian drop-in pitches, which could result in high-scoring matches for India and Pakistan. However, he also believes that these conditions could be challenging for West Indies players like Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran to post high scores, resulting in lower-scoring games for the Caribbean team overall.
