Caribbean (Commonwealth) _ The International Cricket Council stated that New York’s ground crew is “working hard” to rectify the uneven field.
Although a lot of advertising worked went into the T20 World Cup’s debut on the outskirts of New York City, the Nassau County International venue in Long Island is an important component of the event. However, the field’s quality has been raising questions.
Before things took a bad turn, the surface, which was created more than a thousand miles away in Florida and transplanted only a month ago, was erratic and slow in the low-scoring first match between South Africa and Sri Lanka.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced that the pitches used in the T20 World Cup matches held in New York have not been up to par and that ground crew is trying to fix them for the remainder of the competition.
The four matches played at the makeshift Nassau County International Cricket Stadium thus far have resulted in low-scoring contests because of the drop-in pitch’s peculiar movement and bounce, which has made batting quite challenging.
While India bowled out Ireland for 96 in Wednesday’s one-sided match, fans anticipating a run-fest were disappointed when Sri Lanka was bowled out for 77, their lowest ever total, against South Africa. The Nassau County International Cricket Stadium pitches haven’t performed as consistently as we would have all liked, according to T20 Inc and the ICC, the ICC stated in a statement.
Since the end of yesterday’s match, the elite grounds crew has been working nonstop to correct the problem and provide the greatest conditions for the remaining games. Six additional games will be held at the stadium, including the highly anticipated encounter between India and Pakistan on Sunday.
Having previously played a warm-up game there, India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour called the pitch “challenging”. That’s just the way things are. He stated, “We need to figure out how to handle it, and I believe our team has the experience and skills necessary to handle it.”
The 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will be held in Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, a modular stadium that will act as a temporary home for eight group stage matches, the most notable of which being the India-Pakistan encounter. After the competition, the outfield’s natural grass drop-in pitch will be replaced with artificial turf, and the modular design will be dismantled, leaving it intact as a legacy.
T20 World Cup USA, the host committee for matches held in the United States throughout the event, will be in charge of the location. It’s the biggest modular cricket stadium in the world. The West Indies and the United States will host the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced in November 2021. As part of a strategic cooperation between the two associations, Cricket West Indies and USA Cricket jointly filed a proposal after two years of planning.
Four American locations were nominated by the ICC in July 2023: Central Broward Park in Lauderhill, Florida; Church Street Park in Morrisville, North Carolina; Grand Prairie Stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas; and a makeshift stadium at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, New York City. The Van Cortlandt Park Alliance, a group of Bronx citizens, expressed disapproval of the planned location.
After the low-scoring match between South Africa and Sri Lanka, commentators and former players felt that the pitch was uneven, bounced inconsistently, and the thick outfield grass was slowing the balls. Sri Lanka ended up with their lowest-ever T20I total and the lowest run rate of any Men’s T20 World Cup match. Former India player Irfan Pathan called the pitch “not ideal” for Twenty20, while former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis said the wicket was “spicy” in social media posts. In a news conference held following the game, South African bowler Anrich Nortje said that although the balls were a little “up and down stated that he relished the atmosphere, thought that a game could be “entertaining” without constantly needing a big run total, and proposed that the outfield may flatten out further in the course of next games.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma remarked, “We spoke about every run matters on a pitch like that,” following his team’s 6 run victory over Pakistan. The pitch had enough. Was, to be honest, a better wicket than in the previous game.”
