Jonathan Trott and Gary Stead, the head coaches of Afghanistan and New Zealand, expressed their disappointment as the one-off Test was abandoned on Friday without a ball being bowled.
“Personally, I was disappointed. We were very excited to play against New Zealand and put ourselves up against the challenge of that. The players have worked really hard,” Trott said, “(But) to try and play a Test match at this time of the year is always tricky…”
This was supposed to be Afghanistan’s 10 th Test since making its red-ball debut in 2018. However, Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Stadium, which was hosting its first Test, came under scanner for lacking facilities and basic drainage. After drawing flak for failing to have any play for the first couple of days despite it being sunny, the stadium authorities and the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) brought covers from the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, while the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association sent super soppers to get the ground back in shape. But with heavy rain leading to water-logging in some parts of the venue, it was not possible for the groundsmen to get things ready.
“In terms of facilities, we are obviously disappointed that we haven’t been able to play,” Trott said, adding: “But the amount of water that’s come down is unprecedented for this time of year…”
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Even Stead echoed similar sentiments. “It’s frustrating for us. It was our first Test match against Afghanistan and we were really excited about that as well.
They’ve been great competitors of ours over the last few World Cups and we’ve had some great games of cricket,” the New Zealand coach said, indicating that this game would have prepared his team better for its Test outings against Sri Lanka and India, to be played over the next seven weeks.
“The most disappointing part for us is that we’ve lost that ability to be match-hardened and match-ready when we go into our Test match next week. So, the guys are really disappointed,” Stead said.
One venue
On the eve of the Test, Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said that having just one ‘home venue’ will help them be more consistent. Over the years, Afghanistan has had home bases in Greater Noida, Dehradun, Lucknow and the UAE.
Trott, too, backed the captain. “If you have one fixed venue, then you can iron out the issues that arise. That’s always nice. But I think this maybe a result of not having played a lot of Test cricket in the past and still trying to find a venue that we can use consistently, so it would be nice to have one venue,” the former England international, who has been the head coach of Afghanistan over the last couple of years, said.
While Afghanistan will travel to the UAE for its limited-overs series against South Africa next week, New Zealand leaves for Sri Lanka on Saturday for its two-match Test series.
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