Kingsmead, Queen's Park Oval outfields poor, ICC says

Omnisports

August 23, 2016 7:32 AM

The ICC is awaiting responses from the CSA and WICB after outfields at Kingsmead and the Queen's Park Oval received a "poor" rating.

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The fourth Test between West Indies and India and South Africa's first Test against New Zealand were abandoned due to unplayable outfields, which the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced have been rated "poor" by match referees.

The Windies were 62-2 in their first innings when heavy rain in Port of Spain on the island of Trinidad cut short play on day one at the Queen's Park Oval, with sunshine and clear skies over the following four days insufficient to make the outfield playable.

Similar circumstances at Kingsmead, Durban, meant there was no play for the final three days between the Proteas and the Black Caps, with the match abandoned before Tuesday's action was even scheduled to start.

Cricket South Africa and the West Indies Cricket Board have two weeks to provide the ICC with a response to the reports from match referees.

An ICC statement read: "The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced that the outfields at Kingsmead, Durban, and Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, have been rated as 'poor' by the match referees.

"Andy Pycroft and Ranjan Madugalle, both from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees, in accordance with Clause 3 of the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process, submitted their reports to the ICC in which they have expressed their concerns over the quality of the outfields for the first Test between South Africa and New Zealand, and the fourth Test between the West Indies and India, respectively.

"The reports have been forwarded to Cricket South Africa (CSA) and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), who now have 14 days to provide their responses."

The Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board and the Queen's Park Cricket Club have launched a joint-investigation into the wash out of the match in Port of Spain on Monday.

As a result of the abandonment, India were unable to secure the 3-0 series win needed to retain their place at the top of the ICC Test rankings, with Pakistan displacing them.

Omnisports

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