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Delhi: The International Cricket Association (ICC) has given ‘poor’ rating to the pitches of Lord’s Cricket Ground and Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Recently, a Test match was played between England and New Zealand at Lord’s, while the third ODI match was played between Pakistan and Australia at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. According to ICC rules, one demerit point has been added to the account of both these grounds.

Marylebone Cricket Club apologizes to ICC

Let us tell you that questions were raised on the Lord’s pitch when the first Test match of the three-match series played between England and New Zealand ended in just four days despite heavy rain on the third day. This was the first time in the last 138 matches that the entire match ended before 1,000 balls.

On this pitch, the ball was sometimes staying very high and sometimes very low, due to which it became very difficult for the batsmen to bat. The Marylebone Cricket Club, which maintains the Lord’s ground, has also apologized for this bad pitch.

33 wickets fell in two days

Match referee Jeff Pycroft said in a statement, ‘There was a lot of swing and seam on the pitch throughout the Test match. Along with this, at times the ball was staying very low, due to which 16 wickets fell on the first day and 17 wickets fell on the second day. Simply put, due to this pitch, the bowlers were getting more help than the batsmen.

The pitch of Gaddafi Stadium was not suitable for batting.

On the other hand, the pitch of Gaddafi Stadium, which hosted the third ODI match between Pakistan and Australia, has also been considered bad. Very few runs were scored on this pitch and the batsmen had a lot of trouble in playing shots freely.

Match referee Graeme La Bruy said that this pitch was not suitable for ODI cricket because it was very difficult to score runs on it and the spin bowlers were getting a lot of help from the beginning of the match. The mood of the pitch remained the same throughout the match.

Due to this poor rating, one demerit point has been added to the accounts of both the grounds, which will remain in their records for the next five years as per ICC rules.