Isaac mcdonald

Isaac McDonald: Perth’s unusual weather has thrown a curveball at WACA head curator Isaac McDonald, who is working against time to prepare the pitch for the highly anticipated first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Despite the disruptions, McDonald remains optimistic that the Optus Stadium surface will deliver its trademark bounce and pace when play begins on Friday.

Rain in the lead-up to the Test has disrupted traditional preparations, with Tuesday’s downpour forcing the pitch to remain under covers all day. This has left the curating team with less time to achieve the iconic "baking" effect associated with Perth's pitches.

"Yeah, it's definitely not traditional Perth Test prep. Yesterday we pretty much lost the whole day of prep with it being under cover. So we kind of saw the forecast early on and we started preparing a little bit earlier than we normally would. So we're sitting quite comfortable still. It'd be nice if the sun would pop out and do its job but as of this morning we're in a good spot," McDonald told media ahead of the series opener beginning on Friday.