Demerit point given to Rawalpindi pitch for the first England Test rescinded

[Hitman]

The pitch in Rawalpindi that was used during the first Test between Pakistan and England has received a 'below average' rating from the ICC.

While a host of batting records were shattered during the opening Test of the series that England managed to win by 74 runs, the pitch used in Rawalpindi came under fire for providing bowlers with very little assistance throughout the five-day contest.

PCB chairman Ramiz Raja labelled the pitch as 'embarrassing' and Andy Pycroft of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees agreed with his prognosis.

Pycroft released his findings on Tuesday and the Rawalpindi surface received its second consecutive rating of 'below average', following the same rating that was given to the pitch after Pakistan's Test against Australia in March.

“It was a very flat pitch which gave almost no assistance to any type of bowler," Pycroft said.

"That was the main reason why batters scored very fast and both sides posted huge totals.

"The pitch hardly deteriorated during the course of the match.

“Since there was very little in it for the bowlers, I found the pitch to be 'below average' as per the ICC guidelines."

It means the venue has now received two demerit points from consecutive Tests under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process and could be in danger of being suspended from hosting any international cricket if more demerit points are lost.

Demerit points remain active for a rolling five-year period and when a venue accumulates five demerit points it is suspended from staging any international cricket for a period of 12 months.[/QUOTE]

ICC

[ask_analyse_act]

Well deserved and good slap on the face of defensive defeatist mindset

[Colorblind Genius]

The board chairman is a 57 test matches veteran who is unable to crack the code of a cricket pitch.

Isn’t that a solace of an excuse in itself?

[Mamoon]

England took 20 wickets on a pitch that has been docked for not offering any assistance to the bowlers.

Instead of docking the pitch, ICC should fine the incompetent Pakistani batsmen for losing 20 wickets on a pitch like this.

[Mamoon]

The board chairman is a 57 test matches veteran who is unable to crack the code of a cricket pitch.

Isn’t that a solace of an excuse in itself?

Playing Test cricket does not give you any insight & expertise when it comes to preparing a pitch. It is the job of the groundskeeper not the players.

The issue is the execution & not the planning. Both Ramiz & Babar confirmed that they wanted a wicket with more turn but they were not the one working on the pitch with the tools.

The blame goes to the curator & it is noble of Ramiz to take responsibility even though pitch preparing is not part of his job description as the chairman of PCB.

[Cric1234]

The highway which turned Imam into Bradman now we can look forward to more Bradmanesque innings in SENA by the master blaster Imam-ul-haq.

[moghul]

Just "below average " ? ? ICC has been too nice to PCB.

[moghul]

The highway which turned Imam into Bradman now we can look forward to more Bradmanesque innings in SENA by the master blaster Imam-ul-haq.

Keep making roads like this and in Imam we will produce another Younis Khan, who did great on UAE's highways and before that on Pakistani roads.

[GLORY OF '92]

England took 20 wickets on a pitch that has been docked for not offering any assistance to the bowlers.

Instead of docking the pitch, ICC should fine the incompetent Pakistani batsmen for losing 20 wickets on a pitch like this.

I'd say it's on par with the Sharjah debacle v Australia in 2002. If not worse as the bowling was mediocre.

[topspin]

"Below average" is a nice way to put it.

This was one of the worst pitches ever prepared in the history of the game especially in this era, where hosts should be working even harder to prepare decent surfaces due to the fact that test cricket is a dying game.

[shokz1408]

Fully deserved.

[Saj]

“It was a very flat pitch which gave almost no assistance to any type of bowler," Pycroft said.

"That was the main reason why batters scored very fast and both sides posted huge totals.

"The pitch hardly deteriorated during the course of the match.

“Since there was very little in it for the bowlers, I found the pitch to be 'below average' as per the ICC guidelines."

Yet Pakistan still lost.

How pathetic and embarrassing.

We really are becoming a laughing stock in Test cricket these days.

[Zaz]

Keep making roads like this and in Imam we will produce another Younis Khan, who did great on UAE's highways and before that on Pakistani roads.

Excuse me but younis khan wasnt a flat track home bully

You dont get 30 odd intnl test centuries and tons in places like eng, south africa, aus etc by playing on roads

If imam bats anywhere near younis khans level he will go down as a pakistani legend

[James]

The “below average” rating in my opinion has been given purely because England managed to force the game and somehow eke out a result on that travesty of a pitch.

If it had been the more probable snore draw, then I believe that the pitch would have been rated “poor”.

[Cric1234]

Keep making roads like this and in Imam we will produce another Younis Khan, who did great on UAE's highways and before that on Pakistani roads.

He’s nowhere near Younis in tests his average will come down once he plays outside Asia his technical flaws are hidden in these wickets.

[gibsyhesperis]

Keep making roads like this and in Imam we will produce another Younis Khan, who did great on UAE's highways and before that on Pakistani roads.

Younis Khan averaged over 50 against England in England — traditionally one of the hardest places to bat for sub-continental batsmen.
To put this into context, that’s higher than Miandad, Inzi, and comparable to Kohli.
Hard to describe him as a flat track bully

[SamNJ]

Reflects poorly on Pakistani batting that it lost the match on a certified docile track.

[Buffet]

Below average? It was an outright poor pitch.

[topspin]

Keep making roads like this and in Imam we will produce another Younis Khan, who did great on UAE's highways and before that on Pakistani roads.

You're a good poster but this is a terrible take on Younis Khan. He averaged 50+ in tests played Australia and England. Also averaged above 40 in tests played in New Zealand.

In SENA tests overall, he averaged 43.94.

You can't call him a flat track bully.

Either you were unaware of these stats or you have a strong dislike for Younis Khan.

[shamaan]

Keep making roads like this and in Imam we will produce another Younis Khan, who did great on UAE's highways and before that on Pakistani roads.

You obviously don't know the records that Younis Khan has.

[Kianig89]

Below average rating adds insult to Paksitan batting

[Rana]

Besides the pitch, the venue seems to be very stressful and frustrating with its bad light issues

It should only be used for day/night Test matches

[Saj]

I was chatting earlier today to someone who knows the Pindi curator very well.

He was saying that the curator prepared a surface which was exactly what the former Chairman had asked for.

[Ashmal]

I was chatting earlier today to someone who knows the Pindi curator very well.

He was saying that the curator prepared a surface which was exactly what the former Chairman had asked for.

This was Ramiz's biggest mistake....he should've never got involved with pitches and selection

[Amjid Javed]

Guarantee the next test at rawalpindi in the next test cycle against either Bangla, Wi at home you will see the same surface we saw vs SL or SA.

Rameez asked for a flat wicket and then just shift blame else where the 2 faces person that he is.

[MenInG]

The pitch in Rawalpindi that was used during the first Test between Pakistan and England has received a 'below average' rating from the ICC.

While a host of batting records were shattered during the opening Test of the series that England managed to win by 74 runs, the pitch used in Rawalpindi came under fire for providing bowlers with very little assistance throughout the five-day contest.

PCB chairman Ramiz Raja labelled the pitch as 'embarrassing' and Andy Pycroft of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees agreed with his prognosis.

Pycroft released his findings on Tuesday and the Rawalpindi surface received its second consecutive rating of 'below average', following the same rating that was given to the pitch after Pakistan's Test against Australia in March.

“It was a very flat pitch which gave almost no assistance to any type of bowler," Pycroft said.

"That was the main reason why batters scored very fast and both sides posted huge totals.

"The pitch hardly deteriorated during the course of the match.

“Since there was very little in it for the bowlers, I found the pitch to be 'below average' as per the ICC guidelines."

It means the venue has now received two demerit points from consecutive Tests under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process and could be in danger of being suspended from hosting any international cricket if more demerit points are lost.

Demerit points remain active for a rolling five-year period and when a venue accumulates five demerit points it is suspended from staging any international cricket for a period of 12 months.

As per news reports, The PCB has appealed against the ICC's decision to award a demerit point for the Rawalpindi pitch used for the first Test against England last month.

[Zaz]

As per news reports, The PCB has appealed against the ICC's decision to award a demerit point for the Rawalpindi pitch used for the first Test against England last month.

Did they appeal it with a straight face? It was a disgrace of a wkt and rightly awarded a demerit point

Classic pcb instead of accepting the mistake and trying to get their house in order they turn a blind eye

Hopefully the ICC look into it and award another point

[Major]

Did they appeal it with a straight face? It was a disgrace of a wkt and rightly awarded a demerit point

Classic pcb instead of accepting the mistake and trying to get their house in order they turn a blind eye

Hopefully the ICC look into it and award another point

Wait what? Pcb is well in its right to make an appeal if they have that option..

[MenInG]

Wait what? Pcb is well in its right to make an appeal if they have that option..

But a little late for that and when they accepted the fact that their pitches aren't great.

Would be great to see the full basis for that appeal.

[MenInG]

As per news reports, The PCB has appealed against the ICC's decision to award a demerit point for the Rawalpindi pitch used for the first Test against England last month.

This has now been confirmed by the PCB.

[HitWicket]

If anything the pitch deserved a harsher rating.

[MenInG]

The PCB has appealed against the ICC's decision to award a demerit point for the Rawalpindi pitch used for the first Test against England last month #Cricket

— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) January 7, 2023

[Amjid Javed]

Unless Pindi starts producing sporting surfaces again like it did vs SA, then it shouldnt be used as a test venue. The surfaces produced for last two tests their were nothing short of shameful.

[Nikhil_cric]

Pitches for NZ series were even worse to be honest.

[WengerOut]

And PCB's defense would be " We got a result "

[Markhor]

And PCB's defense would be " We got a result "

PCB using DRS with the ICC

The appeal should be rejected - ENG only got a result due to T20-style batting. Another team and that's a draw.

[James]

Pitches for NZ series were even worse to be honest.

Yep. Two absolute roads.

[DeadlyVenom]

Najam Sethi and Shakil Sheikh both indirectly condemned the pitches under Ramiz tenure.

Now the new administration is appealing the state of the pitches

[James]

If anything the pitch deserved a harsher rating.

If the brilliance of Ben Stokes’s captaincy had not somehow conjured a result on said pitch, it surely would have been rated as Poor.

[MenInG]

DEMERIT POINT GIVEN TO RAWALPINDI PITCH FOR ENGLAND TEST RESCINDED

Following an appeal by the Pakistan Cricket Board pursuant to the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process, the demerit point handed to the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium for a “below average” pitch rating for the first match of the ICC World Test Championship series between Pakistan and England from 1 to 5 December last year has been rescinded.

Having reviewed footage of the Test Match, the ICC appeal panel, consisting of the ICC General Manager – Cricket and Chair of the ICC Men’s Cricket Committee, were unanimous in their opinion that, while the guidelines had been followed by the Match Referee in accordance with Appendix A of the Pitch Monitoring Process, there were several redeeming features - including the fact that a result was achieved following a compelling game, with 37 out of a possible 39 wickets being taken. As such, the appeal panel concluded that the wicket did not warrant the “below average” rating.

[Front Foot Pull]

As expected used RESULT for the argument, which was achieved only due to the opposition's ultra aggressive batting @ RR of 6.5 and 7.3 🤦🤦

[HitWicket]

Absolutely ridiculous, again if anything the pitch deserved a worse rating.

[Major]

Appeal worked!

And we hqd posters here saying pcb shouldnt appeal....

Already good work by najem sethi @Mamoon

[Major]

And PCB's defense would be " We got a result "

And it worked.

Find it weird when i see pakistanis posters hope for bad things to pakistan just because things werent the way they liked it.

Anyways, with 0 demerit points, that means rawalpindi stadium is safe and wont be getting banned.

This is great news for rawalpindi and islamabad cricket fans who want to go to the stadium to watch matches.

Also its good for pakistani fans that caomplain about fans not shwoing up the stadium. Pindi sells out, and only pindi gives you a full house consisstently. So any demerit point for pindi is a loss for pakistan cricket.

[Nikhil_cric]

Good decision. If it's not a dangerous pitch and it produces a result, it's a good enough pitch.

[Major]

Good decision. If it's not a dangerous pitch and it produces a result, it's a good enough pitch.

i actually agree. Just because we dont like the pitch doesnt mean ICC should give demerit points.

I always knew that demerit points were given for pitches that were deemed too dangerous like that Feroz Shah Kotla pitch.

Giving demerit points for being too flat was dumb move by the match referee and thank god the appeal worked.

[Nikhil_cric]

i actually agree. Just because we dont like the pitch doesnt mean ICC should give demerit points.

I always knew that demerit points were given for pitches that were deemed too dangerous like that Feroz Shah Kotla pitch.

Giving demerit points for being too flat was dumb move by the match referee and thank god the appeal worked.

Kotla pitch was dangerous back in 2009. There were no demerit points back then. But the English media were going out their way to ridicule that Ahmedabad pitch in 2021 which was ridiculous.

The Karachi pitch should be punished severely imo for producing 2 extinct pitches in consecutive matches in New Zealand series. PCB made a mockery of Test cricket with that rubbish they called a pitch.

[Savak]

Najam Sethis proactive approach needs to be praised. I am hoping he is coming into the PCB role having learnt from the lessons of his previous tenure now

[Major]

Kotla pitch was dangerous back in 2009. There were no demerit points back then. But the English media were going out their way to ridicule that Ahmedabad pitch in 2021 which was ridiculous.

The Karachi pitch should be punished severely imo for producing 2 extinct pitches in consecutive matches in New Zealand series. PCB made a mockery of Test cricket with that rubbish they called a pitch.

you cant punish for having a wicket that isnt dangerous. Now if a wicket is flat, its up to the team to bat fast and get a result. When there is a Draw result in place, ICC can't go around punishing for flat wickets

[MenInG]

Credit to Najam Sethi for getting this done, however, question needs to be asked about ICC's own system as well.

The same facts that they used to rescind were available at that time too?

[HitWicket]

Giving demerit points for being too flat was dumb move by the match referee

That is quite literally what the rules say should be done.

[Major]

Credit to Najam Sethi for getting this done, however, question needs to be asked about ICC's own system as well.

The same facts that they used to rescind were available at that time too?

i think this shows how clueless Rameez Raja was, who was letting demerit points affect schduling in Rawalpindi

[Flat_Track_Bully]

I can't stand Pindi stadium, its a disgusting looking small stadium that should not be hosting international cricket.

[MenInG]

i think this shows how clueless Rameez Raja was, who was letting demerit points affect schduling in Rawalpindi

Yes too apologetic but to be honest, everyone here wanted his head for pitches so he kinda played along.

[cricketAXEpert]

The pitch in Rawalpindi that was used during the first Test between Pakistan and England has received a 'below average' rating from the ICC.

While a host of batting records were shattered during the opening Test of the series that England managed to win by 74 runs, the pitch used in Rawalpindi came under fire for providing bowlers with very little assistance throughout the five-day contest.

PCB chairman Ramiz Raja labelled the pitch as 'embarrassing' and Andy Pycroft of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees agreed with his prognosis.

Pycroft released his findings on Tuesday and the Rawalpindi surface received its second consecutive rating of 'below average', following the same rating that was given to the pitch after Pakistan's Test against Australia in March.

“It was a very flat pitch which gave almost no assistance to any type of bowler," Pycroft said.

"That was the main reason why batters scored very fast and both sides posted huge totals.

"The pitch hardly deteriorated during the course of the match.

“Since there was very little in it for the bowlers, I found the pitch to be 'below average' as per the ICC guidelines."

It means the venue has now received two demerit points from consecutive Tests under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process and could be in danger of being suspended from hosting any international cricket if more demerit points are lost.

Demerit points remain active for a rolling five-year period and when a venue accumulates five demerit points it is suspended from staging any international cricket for a period of 12 months.

ICC[/QUOTE]

It wasn't the pitch but the magic of Bazball. The way England played, it made history. The pitch produced result and England took 20 wickets. So it wasn't the Wicket. Bazball is a new phenomena and is a new way of playing test cricket. Ramiz and Pycroft are living in the past.