ICC rates Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium ‘unsatisfactory’ after slow pitch in Pakistan-Australia ODI

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday rated Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium as “unsatisfactory”, noting that the pitch made it difficult to score runs in a recent match between Pakistan and Australia.

Gaddafi Stadium was the venue for the second and third one-day internationals (ODIs) between the Green Shirts and the Aussies. Pakistan won the low-scoring third ODI by four wickets to clinch the three-match series 2-1.

“It was tough to score runs in the low-scoring game and this proved to be the decisive factor in match referee Graeme La Brooy’s report,” the ICC said about the Lahore stadium in a press release.

“The pitch was slow and low and made scoring runs very difficult. It did not suit a One Day International game as batters had to spend more time to settle in. It helped spin very early in the match and continued the same way throughout,” La Brooy said.

The ICC also rated the Lord’s pitch in London, which hosted the first Test between England and New Zealand, as “unsatisfactory” based on Match Referee Andy Pycroft’s report.

“There was plenty of excessive seam movement throughout the Test and the ball also kept extremely low on several occasions. The bounce was variable throughout as 16 wickets fell on the first day and 17 on the second. There was simply an over-balance in favour of ball against bat caused by the pitch,” Pycroft said.

Both Lord’s and Gaddafi Stadium pitches “received one demerit point each under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process”.

The match referees’ reports were forwarded to the England and Wales Cricket Board and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), respectively, and they have 14 days to appeal against the sanction.

“There are no previous demerit points for either venue,” the ICC noted.

The series was played on predominantly low, spin-friendly tracks in Rawalpindi and Lahore, where the tourists largely struggled with the bat.

During the third ODI, Australia were bowled out for 157. Pakistan successfully chased the modest target, although not without several anxious moments, as the pitch offered considerable assistance to the bowlers and made batting difficult throughout the contest.

Some former players and analysts had criticised the surfaces prepared for the series, saying they were tailor-made to favour the home team. However, skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi dismissed the criticism.

After the Green Shirts’ win over Australia, Shaheen defended the pitch strategy, saying: “When you have to play against such a team like Australia, you have to prepare such pitches because your objective is to win the series.”

“When we visited Australia, they prepared green pitches because they were playing against an Asian team and believed those conditions would favour them. Despite that, under Mohammad Rizwan’s captaincy, we won the series there,” the skipper recalled.