Lord’s Cricket Ground (Getty Images)
NEW DELHI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has rated the pitches used for the first Test between England and New Zealand at Lord’s and the third ODI between Pakistan and Australia at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore as “unsatisfactory” under its pitch and field monitoring process.Consequently, both grounds were awarded one penalty point following reports from match referees Andy Beecroft and Graeme La Bruy.
Excessive assistance to the bowlers at Lord’sIn his report, Beecroft said that the Lord’s surface provided too much assistance to the bowlers throughout the Test, resulting in an imbalance between bat and ball.“There was a lot of excessive seam movement throughout the test and the ball remained too low on several occasions.
The bounce was variable throughout with 16 wickets falling on the first day and 17 on the second.“There was simply an overbalance in favor of ball versus bat because of the pitch,” Beecroft said.The match ended within four days, with England defeating New Zealand by 115 points. Chasing 254 for victory, New Zealand were bowled out for 138 in the second innings as England took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.The pitch of Gaddafi Stadium has been criticized for being slow and lowThe stadium used in the third ODI between Pakistan and Australia has also come under scrutiny.
Match referee Graeme La Bruy noted that the surface was very slow and offered spin from an early stage, making batting difficult and making it unsuitable for a 50-over competition.“It was not suitable for an ODI as the batsmen had to spend more time to adapt. It helped with the spin very early in the match and it continued in the same way throughout,” La Bruye said.The ECB and PCB can appealThe ICC referred the reports to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
The two chambers have 14 days to file an appeal against the sanctions.Neither Lord’s nor Gaddafi’s Stadium carried any previous weaknesses prior to the latest rankings.How the ICC Demerit Points System WorksUnder the ICC’s regulations, a venue receives one demerit point when a pitch is rated ‘unsatisfactory’, while an ‘unsuitable’ rating attracts three demerit points.Demerit points remain active for a rolling period of five years. A venue that collects six demerit points is suspended from hosting international cricket for 12 months, while reaching 12 demerit points results in a 24-month suspension.