ICC hands a demerit point to Mirpur’s ‘dissatisfactory’ pitch

ICC has dubbed the pitch of Mirpur Sher-E-Bangla Stadium which is the venue for the second Test match between Bangladesh and New Zealand, ‘dissatisfactory’.

As part of ICC’s Pitch and Outfield monitoring procedure, Mirpur has been handed a demerit point as well.

This demerit point will last for five years. If it’s handed six demerit points in the meantime, it will be banned from holding an international Cricket match for one year.

ICC stated in a press release on Tuesday that based on match officials’ concern and after discussing it with the two captains, match referee David Boon submitted his report to the ICC.

In his report he stated, “The outfield was quite good and lasted wonderfully even after the rain. But it seemed that the pitch might not be properly ready. It wasn’t firm and was covered with splashes of grass right from first day.”

Boon continued, “The bounce had been uneven throughout the whole match starting from the first session and many deliveries bounced off the pitch. Deliveries from the spinners rose above the shoulders of batsmen playing on the front foot and then the deliveries were also quite low sometimes.”

According to ICC guidelines, the pitch and the outfield are given various ratings after every international match in men’s and women’s cricket.

Usually the pitch and the outfield are sorted in categories such as very good, good, average, below average, poor and unfit.  

If a pitch or the outfield falls short of a certain category, it’s handed a demerit point. If it’s dissatisfactory it’s given one demerit point, while if it’s unfit for playing it gets three demerit points.

Earlier, ICC had handed a demerit point to Mirpur by labeling it ‘below average’ after the Test match against Australia in 2018. In that match, 30 out of the 38 wickets were taken by the spinners only.

Though, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had appealed that decision was retained that time. If BCB wants to appeal against the ICC’s decision this time, they have to do it within 14 days.

Due to rain, no ball was bowled for almost four sessions in two days at Mirpur in the last Test. Yet, the match ended on the fourth day, where the spinners showed their prowess. Spinners took away as many as 30 of the total 36 wickets fallen in the match.

After the match, New Zealand captain Tim Southee had openly expressed his dissatisfaction about the pitch. He commented that it was the worst pitch he has seen ever.