The Bellerive Oval pitch is not to blame for the 17 wickets that fell on day one of the Sheffield Shield match between Tasmania and NSW, the two sides say.
Good bowling and some bad batting had a significantly greater impact on the score, the teams agreed after stumps on Tuesday.
Tasmania (7-87) trail NSW's first innings by 95 runs after a spectacular collapse.
The Tigers were at one stage 7-41, following NSW's modest total of 172.
Tigers skipper Dan Marsh (21no) and Gerard Denton (23no) steadied Tasmania, taking the home side through to stumps.
Marsh said the ball swung and seamed around "but the pitch certainly wasn't worthy of 17 wickets in a day," he told reporters.
"It wasn't any worse than any other match we've had here.
"We are still well and truly in the game."
Marsh and Denton added 46 runs for the eighth wicket after NSW bowler Nathan Bracken tore through the Tigers, posting figures of 5-14 off 11 overs in his first spell.
Bracken is rated as the world's best one-day bowler by the International Cricket Council.
At one stage he had figures of 5-2 off five overs and was on a hat-trick.
Asked if it was a 17 wicket-in-a-day pitch he said: "Definitely not".
"We saw Philip Hughes (for NSW) bat very well for 93 ... and make it look like a flat wicket.
"It was a tough wicket to start on but it was not a 17-wicket-in-a-day pitch."
Dane Anderson was the Tigers' top-scorer with 25 and, along with Marsh and Denton, were the only Tasmanian batsmen to reach double figures.
NSW were dismissed in their first innings, soon after tea.
Gerard Denton starred with the ball for Tasmania, taking 5-18 off 9.2 overs after Marsh won the toss and sent NSW in to bat.
Tigers wicketkeeper Tim Pain had a hand in six dismissals while Blues opener Hughes top-scored for the visitors.
Hughes and Moises Henriques put on 71 desperately needed-runs for the sixth wicket.
They were a thorn in the Tigers' side until Marsh (1-10) changed the pace of the attack just before tea with his loopy left-arm orthodox spin.
Marsh broke the threatening partnership, sparking a mini Blues collapse, to leave the visitors on 7-166 at tea after being 4-75 at lunch.
Marsh lured an aggressive Henriques down the wicket with his wiley spin to have the all-rounder edging to first slip for 38 off 47 balls.
Opener Phillip Hughes fell the very next ball, lbw to Brett Geeves just short of a deserved century.
