• Home
  • Cricket News
  • Meet Perths 27 Year Old Curator Set To Challenge To Indian Batters With Fiery Pitch

Meet Perth's 27-Year-Old Curator Set To Challenge To Indian Batters With Fiery Pitch

McDonald -(Source:@CricketAustralia/X.com)McDonald -(Source:@CricketAustralia/X.com)

On Friday, November 22, Australia will lock horns against India at the Optus Stadium in Perth in the first of a five-match Test series. Talking about Perth, the city is known to build one of the fastest surfaces in the world. 

It is worth noting that unlike other parts of the world, where the pitch curator is usually an old guy with grey hair and years of experience with curating pitch, the scenes are different in Perth. Notably, 27-year-old Isaac McDonald is hogging the headlines for breaking the stereotype of a grey-haired pitch curator and rather donning a rockstar look. Notably, he will look after the pitch for BGT opener at Optus Stadium. 

McDonald's Journey To The Top

"At the University of Sydney there was rugby, soccer, gridiron, cricket, lawn tennis – you name it, they play it there," McDonald told cricket.com.au during a break in his preparation for this week's Test pitch.


"So doing an apprenticeship there was so good because you got to work in every facet of the industry and cover all the sports. You did rye grass, big couch grass, and we had five grade grounds for cricket when I first started, so in summer you were on a wicket and you got to have a crack at it. And that's when I found my true passion was cricket wickets," he added.

McDonalds Opens Up On The Challenges Of Being A Pitch Curator

"It's funny having conversations with other curators on how much of a challenge it is to talk about the reasons why they do things. Most people have an understanding of the basic process because it makes sense, but to have the ability to have a conversation about it is quite challenging," he said.


"I found myself wanting to have those conversations and to make that quite normal, but sometimes you can get quite negative feedback from people, especially players," he added.

The curator had assured that there wouldn't be any snake cracks on the surface even if it rains.