Of the 11 matches so far held in this T20 World Cup, only once has there been a clash between two top-eight teams (as per the ICC rankings). That was when South Africa took on Sri Lanka at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in Long Island, New York, on Monday. Any hope of a close and exciting contest, though, evaporated into thin air in no time as Sri Lanka were shot out for 77 in 19.1 overs on an extremely challenging pitch.
That the Sri Lankans weren’t fully to blame for their batting display was reiterated on Wednesday when Ireland’s batters took guard against India on a different pitch at the same venue. The ball misbehaved from the outset, occasionally keeping a tad low and, more alarmingly, shooting up from a good length and hitting batters on their gloves, elbows and chests. Ireland, as a consequence, were bundled for 96 to give India an eight-wicket win. It was noticeable that India’s batters, far more equipped than their opponents, also played and missed quite a bit on a track where the unpredictable bounce was compounded by considerable swing and seam movement.
Stinging criticism of the surface followed right after the game. “That’s not a good surface to play an international match on. It is bordering on dangerous. You saw the ball bouncing unusually both ways, skidding low occasionally but in the main bouncing unusually high and striking people on the thumb, gloves, helmet and making life difficult for any batter,” Andy Flower said on ESPNcricinfo.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan also voiced his disapproval. “Trying to sell the game in the States is great… love it… but for players to have to play on this sub-standard surface in New York is unacceptable… You work so hard to make it to the World Cup, then have to play on this. #INDvIRE,” Vaughan said on X.
The main square at the makeshift venue in the southeast of New York constitutes four drop-in pitches transported from Adelaide, Australia, specifically for this T20 World Cup. But given the last-gasp preparations to get the venue ready — it was handed over to the ICC just before India’s only warm-up game against Bangladesh — it’s clear that the pitches haven’t been tested adequately for an event of this magnitude. The outfield, to put things bluntly, isn’t up to the standards expected in international cricket either.
The ICC may say it didn’t expect the pitches in New York to play as they have. But what it can’t feign ignorance about are the one-sided contests that have dominated the early stages of the T20 World Cup. With 20 teams divided into four groups of five each, of which nine are Associates, there have been quite a few snooze-fests that haven’t yet made this World Cup the spectacle it ought to be. Far from ideal when this T20 World Cup is supposed to be all about taking cricket to fresh faces in the United States and re-energising fans in the West Indies.
The endeavour to expand the game to unexplored territories is virtuous alright, but striking a balance between this and ensuring a tightly-contested competition is also imperative for the health of the game. Otherwise, forget newer audiences, you run the risk of turning some existing fans away.
In the Caribbean too, the pitches have posed problems of a different kind for batters. Take Australia’s game against Oman in Bridgetown, Barbados, on Thursday for instance. While the Australians eventually managed to reach 164/5 thanks to Marcus Stoinis’s 36-ball 67 not out, the surface was extremely slow and rendered stroke-making a real chore all through the game. When the earlier game at this venue between Scotland and defending champions England was played on a pitch more pleasant for batting, rain played spoilsport!
Unless there are major upsets in the coming week, we may have to wait till the Super Eight stage, commencing on June 19, for the contests to become more riveting. That there isn’t much riding on the group stage is also evident from the pre-decided tournament seedings. It means that regardless of where the teams finish in this initial phase, India will be in Group 1 of the Super Eights alongside Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka provided they all qualify.
For the tournament to come to life, the India-Pakistan game on Sunday may have to play its part. While it has become customary for the arch-rivals to be in the same group at marquee events for the purpose of eyeballs and television ratings, a nail-biting game of high quality seems necessary for the tournament to get out of slumber. The worry, however, is that the nature of the surface in New York is unlikely to drastically change.
“I don’t know what to expect from the pitch to be honest,” India skipper Rohit Sharma said at Wednesday’s post-match presentation. “We will prepare as if the conditions are going to be like this (for Pakistan game). This is going to be a kind of game where all XI of us will need to contribute.”