T20 -ICC Admits To Problem With New York Stadium Pitches

NEW YORK, NY (ANI) – The International Cricket Council (ICC) on June 6 issued a statement recognizing that the pitches used at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup have not been as consistent as expected and the grounds men were working hard to find a solution and deliver the “best possible surfaces” for the remaining games.

The stadium makes use of a drop-in pitch, which is prepared somewhere away from the venue before the game and installed into the ground for the match.

The outfield and pitch met with criticism after low-scoring contests between South Africa and Sri Lanka on June 3 and, later, India against Ireland. Batters struggled to play on such a slow surface.

Former England coach Andy Flower said that the pitches in New York for the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup are “bordering on dangerous” and unfit for international cricket.

“I have got to say that is not a good surface to play an international match on. It is bordering on dangerous. You saw the ball bouncing from a length both ways, skidding low occasionally, but in the main, it was bouncing unusually high and striking people on the thumb, on the gloves, and on the helmet, making life very difficult for any batsman. It proved very, very tricky batting conditions for any side, let alone a smaller, cricketing nation like Ireland taking on the giants of India,” Flower told ESPNcricinfo.

Sanjay Manjrekar, the former Indian cricketer and commentator, said that though international cricket has seen such dangerous pitches before, the preparation of this pitch has gone wrong, where “either the pitch has been under-prepared or something that is beyond their control.”