Upholding match referee Jeff Crowe’s assessment of the pitch at the Vidarbha Cricket Association stadium in Jamtha, on the outskirts of Nagpur, being “poor” for last month’s third Test between > India and South Africa, the International Cricket Council has issued an “official warning” regarding the pitch.
The ICC, however, did not fine the host association citing it was the first offence of the Nagpur wicket. According to the ICC Pitch Monitoring Process, poor rating on the first occasion may attract “a warning and / or a fine not exceeding USD 15,000 given together with a directive for appropriate corrective action”.
“The sanction took into consideration the fact that there had been no concerns about the performance of the pitch after any of the other international matches played at this venue,” an ICC statement stated. “The finding was made by ICC General Manager – Cricket, Geoff Allardice, and ICC chief match referee, Ranjan Madugalle, after watching footage of the match, reviewing the post-match reports from Mr. Crowe, and considering the response provided by the BCCI”.
If the pitch in the hometown of BCCI president and ICC chairman Shashank Manohar is again termed “poor” by a match referee in the next five years, it will be slapped with a fine up to USD 30,000.
While a BCCI insider termed the ICC assessment “harsh”, he clarified the BCCI will thoroughly co-operate with the corrective measures suggested by the ICC.
The ICC assessment also indirectly is a slap on the Indian team management’s insistence on the host associations preparing rank turners. With the BCCI and host associations’ curators catering to the team’s demands, the recent four-Test series ended up being a lop-sided contest in favour of bowlers.
