ICC hands official warning to Durban, Port-of-Spain for poor pitches and outfields

A few hours ago, the ICC gave an official warning to the Queen’s Park Oval at Port-of-Spain and rated the pitch and outfield of the stadium as “poor”. The fourth and final test of the India-West Indies series was held at this ground which saw more than four and a half days of play being lost owing to poor drainage facilities in the ground.

Three and half days of play were lost in the opening test of New Zealand’s trip to South Africa

A similar warning was issued to Kingsmead in Durban after three and a half days were lost in the opening test between New Zealand and South Africa. A statement released by the ICC read “Durban and Port of Spain have been given official warnings under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process following the South Africa versus New Zealand and West Indies versus India Tests last month,".The release further stated that "The sanctions take into account Durban and Port of Spain venues' history of producing good conditions for international cricket and commitment by both the boards to take appropriate steps to ensure similar events are not repeated in future. The CSA's response was reviewed by ICC s General Manager Cricket, Geoff Allardice, and Ranjan Madugalle, while Mr Allardice and David Boon, also from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees, assessed the WICB's reply. Both the matters were decided in accordance with Clause 4 of the process,".Andrew Pycroft and Ranjan Madugalle, both from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees, in accordance with Clause 3 of the pitch and outfield monitoring process, had rated the quality of both these outfields as “poor” for the first test between South Africa and New Zealand and the fourth test between India and West Indies.