How Australia’s Adelaide Oval is assisting New York in cricket pitches for ICC T20 World Cup

Interestingly, Eisenhower Park will have drop-in pitches for the ICC World Cup encounters. Transported over 22,530 km, the pitch trays arrived in the US from Adelaide. Hosting an ICC event for the first time, fans in the US will witness the mother of all cricket rivalries later this year. Arch-rivals India and Pakistan will resume their epic rivalry at the grandest stage in New York on 9 June.

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What to expect from US pitches at T20 World Cup

New York, Texas and Florida have been picked as bespoke venues for the ICC event. “Our aim is to produce pitches that have pace and consistent bounce, on which the players can play their shots,” Adelaide Oval pitch curator Damian Hough told the BBC. “We want entertaining cricket, but there are challenges.”

Four-match ready pitches and six strips for practice

The project for 10 drop-in pitches kickstarted in October last year. Split into two trays, match venues will have four match-ready pitches and six strips that teams can use for warm-ups. The trays were shipped from Adelaide to Florida in January. “I have mixed feelings,” said Hough, whose team is taking 12 hours to plant pitches at the selected venues for the World Cup.

“I’m really excited, but I’m a bit anxious at the same time – there are still unknowns. This is a long process. What we do know is we’ve given it our best shot. We’ve thoroughly thought through every possible outcome and issue along the way and we’re hoping that they’re going to be some good cricket pitches,” Hough added.