ICC Gives Demerit Points to Iconic Lords Ground for Unsatisfactory pitches 

The ICC has recently rated pitches at Lord’s and Gaddafi Stadium as “Unsatisfactory” ; both venues have been awarded one demerit point each under the ICC’s Pitch and outfield monitoring system.  These sanctions were given to the Lords regarding the use of the first Test between England and New Zealand on the ground. Gaddafi stadium was given demerit for the third ODI match against Pakistan and Australia.

These reports were submitted by the match referees Andy Pycroft and Graeme La Brooy. The match referee had already raised concerns about the pitch to the officials and captain. Lord’s Pitch favored the bowler. Attention came to Lord’s pitch after it favored bowlers and heavily favored the bowlers.

According to match referee Pycroft, the pitch had excessive seam movement, bounce and some balls were deliberately kept extremely low. Balance between bat and ball also became a central issue. Over thirty plus wickets fell across the first two days of the matches.

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“There was plenty of excessive seam movement throughout the Test and the ball also kept extremely low on several occasions,” Pycroft said in the ICC release.

“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 the ball against the bat caused by the pitch.” While Lord’s was considered too favorable for bowlers, Pakistan Gaddafi stadium came under scrutiny for being unsuitable to host an ODI contest on it.  

“The pitch was slow and low and made scoring runs very difficult,” La Brooy said. “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.” ICC has informed us that the report has been forwarded to the England and Wales cricket board and the Pakistan cricket board regarding this decision.  

Both stadiums did not have a demerit point before this.

What is the ICC Pitch and Outfielding Monitoring Process?

Under this process, the pitches and outfield are judged on standards. If a pitch fails in this test. The venue received one demerit point. If a venue receives three demerit points, it is rated unfit.