The pitches used for the first Test between England and New Zealand at Lord’s in London and for the third ODI between Pakistan and Australia at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore have been rated as ‘unsatisfactory’ by the ICC, each venue accruing one demerit point under the governing body’s Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process.
Match referees at both venues – Andy Pycroft (Lord’s) and Graeme La Brooy (Gaddafi Stadium) – submitted their reports expressing concerns of the match officials and the captains.
“There was plenty of excessive seam movement throughout the Test and the ball also kept extremely low on several occasions,” Pycroft said about the Lord’s pitch. “The bounce was variable throughout as 16 wickets fell on the first day and 17 on the second. There was simply an over-balance in favour of ball against bat caused by the pitch.”
About the Gaddafi Stadium pitch, La Brooy reported: “The pitch was slow and low and made scoring runs very difficult. It did not suit a One-Day International game as batters had to spend more time to settle in. It helped spin very early in the match and continued the same way throughout.”
The ICC has forwarded the reports to the England and Wales Cricket Board and the Pakistan Cricket Board respectively. The two boards have 14 days to appeal against the sanction.
The demerit points acquired remain active for a rolling five-year period. When a venue accumulates six demerit points (or crosses that threshold), it will be suspended from hosting any international cricket for a period of 12 months, while a venue will be suspended from staging any international cricket for 24 months when it reaches the threshold of 12 demerit points, per the ICC rule.
Neither Lord’s nor the Gaddafi pitch has any previous demerit points against their name.
