The pitches for the first two matches of the men’s T20 World Cup 2024 held at New York’s Nassau County Stadium, as well as the one for the semi-final between Afghanistan and South Africa at the Brian Lara Academy in Tarouba, have been rated “unsatisfactory” by the ICC.
The verdict comes nearly two months after the tournament, which India won by beating South Africa in the final.
In the second game, a number of players from the two sides copped blows on the body as a result of the uneven bounce. Rohit Sharma had to retire hurt as a precautionary measure after being hit on the upper arm by Josh Little. Rishabh Pant, too, was struck on the body by Little, while Ireland’s Harry Tector was struck on the finger by a sharp bouncer from Jasprit Bumrah.
At the time, Andy Flower had said the pitch in New York was “bordering on dangerous”, while former England captain Michael Vaughan calling it “shocking”.
The modular venue in New York was readied in five months and, following criticism from various quarters, the ICC had acknowledged that the pitches there had been substandard and the short turnaround time between matches – New York hosted eight of the 16 USA games in two weeks – didn’t help.
Remedial work was carried out. Damian Hough, the Adelaide Oval chief curator, had been brought in by the ICC to prepare the drop-in pitches in New York, and ahead of the following game, between Canada vs Ireland, areas where grass shoots were growing under the cracks were covered with topsoil and rolled it to make the surface much flatter. The surfaces used for the subsequent fixtures in New York, including India vs Pakistan, where 119 beat 113 for 7, have been rated as “satisfactory”.
But the bigger point of scrutiny, perhaps more than New York, was on the surface for the semi-final, where Afghanistan were bowled out for 56. Some deliveries rolled along the ground, while a few reared up from a similar spot. At the time, Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott was clear “that’s not a pitch you want to play a semi-final on“.
In general, surfaces at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy were challenging and produced several low scores, including 40 all out, 79 all out and 95 all out, in the World Cup. Even West Indies, who hit 149 and defended it narrowly against New Zealand, were tottering at 30 for 5 at one stage.
The ICC rates pitches, and separately outfields, for all international games on a scale of very good to unfit: very good, good, satisfactory, unsatisfactory and unfit. The surface at Providence for the India vs England semi-final was rated “satisfactory”, while the Kensington Oval deck for the final between India and South Africa was rated as “very good”.
The ICC was largely happy with the state of the outfields, with only New York and Guyana receiving “satisfactory” ratings, while the others were “very good”.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo