PAK vs ENG: ICC rates Rawalpindi pitch for 1st Test below average

As many as seven centuries were scored in the game and England won by 74 runs after putting on board a record total of 506/4 on the opening day.

FILE PHOTO: Pakistan wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed inspects the pitch ahead of their first cricket Test against England at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi on November 30, 2022.  | Photo Credit: AFP

The ICC on Tuesday rated the Rawalpindi pitch for Pakistan-England first Test ‘below average’ for not offering any assistance to bowlers.

As many as seven centuries were scored in the game and England won the match by 74 runs after putting on board a record total of 506/4 on the opening day and a total of 657, with their of their batters reaching the three-figure mark.

The venue also received one demerit point. This was the second demerit point for the stadium in eight months. The pitch used for the first Test between Pakistan and Australia in March was also rated as below average.

“ICC Elite Panel of Match Referee Andy Pycroft has rated the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium pitch that was used for the first match of the ICC World Test Championship series between Pakistan and England as “below average” and the venue has received one demerit point under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process,” stated ICC media release.

Pycroft in his assessment of the pitch said, “It was a very flat pitch which gave almost no assistance to any type of bowler. That was the main reason why batters scored very fast and both sides posted huge totals. The pitch hardly deteriorated during the course of the match.” “Since there was very little in it for the bowlers, I found the pitch to be below average as per the ICC guidelines,” he added.

One demerit point is awarded to the venues where the pitch is rated as below average while three and five demerit points are awarded to venues where pitches are marked as poor and unfit, respectively.

When a venue accumulates five demerit points (or crosses that threshold), it is suspended from hosting any international cricket for a period of 12 months, while a venue is suspended from staging any international cricket for 24 months when it reaches the threshold of 10 demerit points.