Australian curator terms Pakistan visit useful, enjoyable and collaborative.

LAHORE -- Australia's Adelaide Oval chief curator Damien Hough has completed his 12-day visit of Pakistan during which he visited four Test centres and worked with the ground staff, curators and coaches on pitch and outfield preparation methods.

Hough, started his visit at the headquarters of Pakistan cricket, Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium. From Lahore, Hough travelled to Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi before coming down to spend the last weekend in Karachi. Besides a thorough inspection of the city's Test venue - National Stadium, Hough also made a visit to the Naya Nazimabad Ground.

Hough made a two-day visit to Multan Cricket Stadium early this week and later returned to Lahore for his final assignment. He will depart to Adelaide from Lahore on Thursday.

Besides inspecting the pitches and the outfield in the four cities, Hough also delivered lectures on pitch making and outfield inspection which were attended by local coaches, ground staff and curators.

Hough meanwhile, has termed his trip very useful and enjoyable one as besides making the pitch and ground related visits, delivering lectures and presentations, he also got an opportunity to understand and learn about pitch making in Pakistan. The visit according to him was also about exchanging ideas and collaboration.

Hough also lauded the Pakistan Cricket Board's efforts and interest in experimenting with imported Australian soil and called it a world class approach.

Damien Hough said on Wednesday: 'There were two parts to the plan of coming over to Pakistan, like it was about providing information and understanding on how we prepare pitches at the Adelaide Oval, the grass we leave on to assist with the pace, bounce and carry which was conveyed through presentations to the coaches and participants of the lectures at the four cities we visited. We also went on the ground and rolled out a pitch to explain how we do things.

'The other part was about a visit to the different venues and to meet the grounds team and the staff and understand how they do things, the outfields, the machinery and to go home and put together a report about what I have seen. There have been a lot of positives to take away and it has been a really enjoyable tour.

'The engagement from the curators and the coaches was extremely positive. The challenges in Pakistan are different with regards to the...