T20 World Cup: ICC rates two New York matches, South Africa vs Afghanistan pitches as ‘unsatisfactory’

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday released the pitch ratings for all 52 completed matches of the T20 World Cup 2024 that was held in the West Indies and the USA in June.

Cricket’s global body deemed three pitches, two in the USA and one in the West Indies, to be ‘unsatisfactory’. Additionally, 31 pitches were rated ‘satisfactory’ and 18 received a rating of ‘very good’ by the ICC. The ratings have been applied to only the completed matches with three matches not producing an outcome – two were abandoned while one ended with no result.

The makeshift Nassau County Cricket Stadium in New York which hosted eight group stage matches, received two ‘unsatisfactory’ ratings: for the Sri Lanka vs South Africa and India vs Ireland contests – incidentally the first two matches held at the ground.

Both were low-scoring contests and produced uneven bounce. Ireland were bowled out for 96 against India and Sri Lanka were skittled for 77 by South Africa in New York.

The other pitch that came under question was at the Brian Lara Cricket Stadium in Trinidad which hosted the Afghanistan vs South Africa semi-final on June 26.

In conditions dominated by the Proteas pacers, Afghanistan were shot out for mere 56 runs within 12 overs. The total was Afghanistan’s lowest T20I score and also the lowest total ever in a men’s T20 World Cup semi-final.

In reply, South Africa romped home in 8.5 overs to make their first final appearance.

Speaking after the clash, Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott said: “That’s not the pitch that you want to have a match, a semi-final of a World Cup, on plain and simple. It should be a fair contest.

“I’m not saying it should be flat completely with no spin and no seam movement, but I’m saying you shouldn’t have batsmen worrying about going forward and the ball flying over their head. You should be confident in your foot movement and being able to hit through the line or use your skills.”

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting also found the use of a fresh pitch for the semi-final to be unconventional. “It seems strange to me that you’ll use a brand new wicket for a semifinal one that you’ve actually got no idea about how it’s going to play. We heard the preparation for this wicket started about a week and a half,” Ponting told the host broadcaster.

“There was a game early in the tournament – West Indies and New Zealand – which was a 150 plays 140 type game. And at least they had some sort of idea of how that wicket was going play. I know the ball swung that night. That’s okay. You can deal with that. But the variation in bounce and seam that we’ve seen here, I’m not sure if I’m the groundsman, I’ll be experimenting with something like that in such a big moment,” Ponting added.

ICC pitch and outfield ratings