Photo Credit: England & Wales Cricket Board
Richie Richardson of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees has rated the Brisbane Cricket Ground pitch that was used for the first match of the ICC World Test Championship series between Australia and South Africa as “below average” and the venue has received one demerit point under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process.
Mr Richardson said: “Overall, the Gabba pitch for this Test match was too much in favour of the bowlers.There was extra bounce and occasional excessive seam movement. The odd delivery also kept low on the second day, making it very difficult for batters to build partnerships.
“I found the pitch to be “below average” as per the ICC guidelines since it was not an even contest between bat and ball.”
Mr. Richardson’s report has been forwarded to Cricket Australia.
NOTES TO EDITORS
• In the revised ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process, which was introduced on 4 January 2018, if a pitch or outfield is rated as being substandard, that venue will be allocated a number of demerit points.
• One demerit point will be awarded to venues whose pitches are rated by the match referees as below average, while three and five demerit points will be awarded to venues whose pitches are marked as poor and unfit, respectively.
• No demerit point will be awarded when the outfield is rated as below average, but two and five demerit points will be awarded to venues whose outfields are marked as poor and unfit, respectively.
• Demerit points will remain active for a rolling five-year period.
• When a venue accumulates five demerit points (or crosses that threshold), it will be suspended from hosting any international cricket for a period of 12 months, while a venue will be suspended from staging any international cricket for 24 months when it reaches the threshold of 10 demerit points.
Name of Author: ICC
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global governing body for cricket, founded in 1909 as the Imperial Cricket Conference. Renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, it became the ICC in 1987. Headquartered in Dubai, UAE, the ICC has 108 member nations.
