PCB appoints Tony Hemming as chief pitch curator in a 2-year contract

The Pakistan Cricket Board has appointed Australia's Tony Hemming as the chief pitch curator for the next two years. Previously, the PCB had hired the services of foreign curators like Andy Atkinson, in order to improve the quality of pitches in the country. However, this is the first time it has offered a long-term contract to a foreign curator. Hemming, who comes from Western Australia, has worked with the ICC in the past and boasts of four decades of experience in the pitch and outfield management.

Hemming has experience of working at Melbourne, Perth and Hobart grounds apart from supervising the tracks in Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The foreign pitch curator has been given the responsibility to improve the quality of the pitches for the upcoming home series against Bangladesh, England and West Indies this season. He will also be supervising the preparation of the pitches for the domestic



season.

Apart from the international matches, the big task at Hemmings' hands will be overseeing the pitch preparations for the Champions Trophy 2025. An ICC event will be held in Pakistan after a long time and the PCB authorities would want to assure that the pitches are as per the international standards.

"Hemming will also oversee pitch preparations for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, which Pakistan will host from 19 February to 9 March," PCB said in a statement.

The Australian served as the ICC's head curator from 2007 to 2017 in Dubai. During his tenure with ICC, Hemming also supervised the pitch preparations at the Dubai International Stadium, which was one of Pakistan's home venues from 2009 to 2019.

Pakistan will face Bangladesh in the two-match Test series with the matches scheduled to be played in Rawalpindi from August 21 till 3rd September.