Puffs of dust were evidence of the ball breaking the surface of the pitch as it landed - and batting last should be awkward.
Hopefully, that game will take place on a different surface after the Wembley pitch, which was re-laid for the 10th time in three years following England's win over Egypt in last month's friendly, again proved hopelessly inadequate for a showpiece match.
In the 20 or so years I have been playing here at my home ground in Perth, I must admit I had never seen so much grass on the surface of a Test pitch and it was therefore no surprise to hear all the talk and prediction leading into the match.
The 790's projector was bright enough to see detail even in a sun-lit room, but we could even see using it to watch a movie (with an external speaker), assuming that we're able to set up shop in a pitch-black environment with a suitable surface.
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With groundsman Steve Rouse suggesting his dry pitch would suit seamers who "kiss" the surface, giving the ball every opportunity to swing, England omitted surprise call-up Darren Pattinson in favour of the fit-again Ryan Sidebottom.
The Wales boss was angered before last month's opening World Cup game against Azerbaijan as the removal of the portable pitch for a Madonna concert at the stadium left the playing surface bare in the week of the game, disrupting his training plans.
"It's a temporary surface...unless they make it a permanent pitch it's never going to be any different, " Moon said.
Pitch inspector John Jameson made it clear there was no question of him reporting the surface, citing swing and poor batting for most of the wickets.
The pitch at McDiarmid Park passed an early morning inspection after a period of heavy rain but the surface made life difficult for both sides.
Having thousands of fans on the pitch is not just costly in terms of insurance, it's also wrecking the playing surface which will now have to be replaced ahead of schedule in 2010 at a cost of 1m euro.
Harry Redknapp became the latest football manager to heavily criticise the pitch's condition after he saw his Tottenham team and opponents Portsmouth struggle on a slippery surface which cut up all too easily when the two sides clashed in the second semi-final.
Old Trafford is a football pitch, so the grass is shorter and with the game kicking off at 1800 BST, the surface will be slippier, so I'm not expecting many long-range tries.
Harry Redknapp became the latest football manager to heavily criticise the pitch's condition on Sunday after he saw his Tottenham team and opponents Portsmouth struggle on the slippery surface, which cut up badly during the sides' FA Cup semi-final.
Times have changed though and with tickets being relatively pricey, with all seating stadia in place and pitch invasion not very common nowadays it would seem that distance between the fans in the crowd and the playing surface is not as essential as it once was.
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