T20 World Cup: Blinded by New York’s Moolah, ICC Forget to Cover the Basics – News18

After sixteen matches, including a Super Over and three washouts, the 2024 T20 World Cup caravan has checked out of the United States of America (USA) as the remainder of the tournament, the Super Eights and semis, final are scheduled to be played in the West Indies.

In what was International Cricket Council’s (ICC) most ambitious project till date, the final leg – four games in Florida – turned out to be a damp squib and raised plenty of questions around the move which cost at least $35 million.

Cricket, it seemed, was on a staycation in the States and as the teams have checked out, very little is left behind. Spectators came in large numbers, even after burning a hole in their pockets, for the games in the makeshift facility in New York and it was no surprise to see the sea of blue whenever India took field at the venue which had more than teething issues.

While challenges in New York were understandable to a certain extent, it’s the Florida leg – three washouts out of the four scheduled matches – which has raised serious questions over the preparedness.

The region receives decent amount of rain in the month of June and the unprecedented downpour during the week four games were scheduled exposed the infrastructural issues at the venue which had hosted plenty of international games, including India fixtures, in the past.

The ICC, not the USA Cricket which had no role to play in the tournament, had all energies focussed on the New York project and forgot to even have adequate covers sorted for a venue which didn’t have the usual standard of drainage.

They did spend millions of dollars for the show in NY but didn’t invest a little over US$ 120,000 on covers which could have protected the length and breadth of the cricket field.

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Well before the 2023 World Cup, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), during their drive to upgrade facilities at venues hosting World Cup games, ensured to have full covers at almost every venue.

Cost of those covers? It ranges between Rs 1 crore to Rs 1.3 crore and is much less compared to what the ICC had spent for their makeshift bite of the Big Apple.

There was no rain on the day of India vs Canada, and no overnight rain too, but even that didn’t help as the ground was left exposed by rain in the preceding days and plenty of damage was done.

Multiple inspections later, the match was called off and sources who were present at the ground said one half of the venue remained very wet, damp and unsafe for cricket.

“One part of the ground remained very wet even after numerous efforts. The ground was completely exposed during the rains and only the square was covered. It was not safe and fit for cricket. It felt very wet underneath even while walking on patches which looked dry to the naked eye,” says a well-placed source.

India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour was disappointed that no cricket was possible for the Men in Blue before the Super Eight but the situation wasn’t in their hands.

“Some reserve players are being released. Of course, that concern is always there when you play in conditions which are not ideal. But, the decision to play or not to play was with the match officials. As a team we didn’t have any say. But if the game had happened that would have really helped us,” Rathour had said after India vs Canada was washed out.

Full covers would not only have minimised that damage but also given the venue the much needed infrastructure upgrade – something which should have been addressed in the first place – and would have actually made a contribution where it mattered most.

As the bulldozers continue to work overtime to bring down the Nassau County venue, the dust will finally settle in a week or so and cricket will soon be pushed back into obscurity in the USA.

The Major League Cricket will do its bit to ensure the buzz doesn’t die down but the ICC has missed a golden opportunity to strengthen the roots of what could have soon grown into a tree. Cricket can enter the US market on makeshift arrangements but a lot needs to be done on the infrastructure for the staycation to turn into an extended stay.

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