ICC under serious pressure from Cricket Boards all around the world due to this incident in T20 World Cup 2024

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is under high pressure for the delay in the pitch ratings for the New York pitch used for the T20 World Cup 2024. The matches in New York were played on Nassau County ground, which produced a no. low scores during the tournament.

Not only for the matches in New York, the ICC hasn’t even provided the ratings for any of the 54 matches played in the T20 World Cup 2024, which was jointly hosted by the West Indies and the USA.

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ICC faces criticism over the delay in New York pitch ratings

But the main focus is on the pitches used in New York. A total of eight matches were held in New York this tournament, which also included the high-octane clash between India and Pakistan.

The average first innings score turned out to be just 107.6 in New York this tournament. The highest score on this ground was 137-7 scored by Canada against Ireland in the group stage match between the two sides. The drop-in pitch was specially prepared for the tournament by Damian Hough, Adelaide pitch curator.

But the ICC hasn’t uploaded the ratings of the pitch yet on its official website. The pitch in New York received plenty of scrutiny for being too favorable for the bowlers and dangerous for the batters. Former cricketers and experts called the pitch dangerous, unplayable, and sub-standard as well.

The reason for the delay is still unknown. More than seven weeks have gone by but there has been no information regarding the matter so far. During the ODI World Cup 2023 tournament held in India, the ICC uploaded pitch assessment ratings within a week of the completion of the match.

Unprepared pitch used in New York?

It is to be noted that drop-in pitches need time to settle down but the stadium and the pitch in New York were prepared in a record time. Since the T20 World Cup 2024 matches started straight away without any previous games, the pitch did not settle down, resulting in an awkward bounce for the batters at times.

The batters found it extremely difficult to stay on the pitch for a long time but the bowlers made merry for the plenty of help on offer. The teams even struggled to score at 6 runs per over. In the big India-Pakistan match, India successfully defended 119 runs to win the match by 6 runs.

The categories given for the pitch ratings are very good, good, satisfactory, average, and below average. Looking at the behavior of the New York pitch, it is likely to get an average rating or below-average rating.

What about other pitches in the USA?

A total of 16 matches were played in the USA in the T20 World Cup 2024, out of which 8 games were staged in New York. The remaining eight matches were equally divided between Dallas and Florida. While Dallas produced good batting wickets, the weather conditions turned out to be poor in Florida.

The match referees for the eight games in New York were Ranjan Madugalle, David Boon, Jeff Crowe, and Richie Richardson. The next Olympic Games will be held in Los Angeles in 2028 and cricket will be a part of that event. As a result, it is believed that the ICC is avoiding harsh ratings for the quality of pitches in the USA.