ICC Slams New York and Tarouba T20 World Cup Pitches

New York and Tarouba venues receive 'unsatisfactory' ratings, India-Pakistan pitch deemed 'satisfactory'.

New York’s Nassau cricket stadium has recently been mired in controversy /

By Priscilla Jepchumba

The ICC has rated the pitches for the first two matches at New York's Nassau County Stadium during the men's T20 World Cup 2024, as well as the one for the semi-final between Afghanistan and South Africa at the Brian Lara Academy in Tarouba, as "unsatisfactory".

This assessment comes almost two months after the tournament concluded, with India emerging as the winners by defeating South Africa in the final.

During the matches in New York, Sri Lanka was dismissed for 77 against South Africa on June 3, and Ireland was bowled out for 96 by India two days later.

In the second game, several players from both teams experienced rough blows due to the uneven bounce. Rohit Sharma had to leave the field as a precaution after being struck on the upper arm by Josh Little.

 Rishabh Pant also suffered a blow to the body from Little, while Ireland's Harry Tector was struck on the finger by a short ball from Jasprit Bumrah.

At the time, Andy Flower expressed concern that the New York pitch was "bordering on dangerous", while former England captain Michael Vaughan labeled it as "shocking".

The modular venue in New York was constructed in just five months. The ICC brought in Damian Hough, the chief curator at the Adelaide Oval, to prepare the drop-in pitches.

However, following criticism from various sources, the ICC admitted that the pitches were below standard, and the short turnaround time between matches (New York hosted eight games in two weeks) did not aid the situation.

Before the upcoming game between Canada and Ireland, maintenance work was conducted to cover areas on the field where grass shoots were growing through the cracks.

The field surface was leveled out by adding topsoil and rolling it in. The grounds in New York, where India played against Pakistan, resulting in 119 runs beating 113 for 7, were evaluated as "satisfactory".

The field surface for the semi-final match, where Afghanistan was bowled out for 56, drew significant attention. Some deliveries stayed low, while others unexpectedly rose from the same spot. Afghanistan's head coach, Jonathan Trott, was clear that the pitch was not suitable for a semi-final match.

In general, the playing surfaces at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy were quite challenging. During a match, West Indies struggled at 30 for 5 before eventually defending their total of 149 against New Zealand.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) rates pitches and outfields for international games on a scale from very good to unfit, including ratings such as very good, good, satisfactory, unsatisfactory, and unfit.

The surface at Providence for India vs. England semi-final was rated as "satisfactory," whereas the Kensington Oval pitch for the final between India and South Africa was rated as "very good".

The ICC expressed overall satisfaction with the conditions of the outfields, with only New York and Guyana receiving "satisfactory" ratings, while the rest were rated as "very good."