The Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium is in danger of losing its privilege to hold international games after receiving another demerit point from the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday for the “below average” grade given to the surface constructed for the first Test between Pakistan and England.
According to Andy Pycroft of the ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees, the Rawalpindi surface received a “below average” rating.”The surface was extremely flat and provided almost no help to any kind of bowler.
According to Pycroft, that was the key reason why batters scored rapidly and both teams registered high totals. He stated that throughout the Test match, the pitch “barely worsened.”
As per the ICC rules, I deemed the surface to be ‘below average’ because there wasn’t much to it for the bowlers,’ he said.
The Rawalpindi surface has now been given this grade twice; the first time was during the first Test match between Pakistan and Australia, when it was rated as “below ordinary.” It had one demerit point that had accumulated.
The demerit points are still in effect after rolling them over for five years. A venue is barred from hosting international cricket matches for a year if it accrues five demerit points (or goes above that limit).
The location is barred from staging international cricket matches for 24 months if it accumulates 10 demerit points.
