CWC: ICC rates Dharamsala outfield 'average' following AFG-BAN game, England’s game to go ahead per schedule

Following complaints by Afghanistan’s head coach Jonathan Trott after his side’s first match of the World Cup 2023 on Saturday, the ICC rated Dharamsala outfield as ‘average’. Though concerns raised saw cricket’s governing body intervene in the matter, the next encounter at this venue between England and Bangladesh on Tuesday will go ahead per the schedule.

ICC’s spokesperson confirmed board's independent pitch consultant, Andy Atkinson, is 'comfortable with the conditions' of the outfield at the venue.

"The process for assessing the condition of the pitch and outfield lies with the match officials under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process, and the outfield at Dharamsala was rated as average after the Afghanistan v Bangladesh match. Additionally, the ICC independent pitch consultant has taken a look at the outfield today and is comfortable with the conditions as is Javagal Srinath, the Match Referee for the next game," an ICC spokesperson said.

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Meanwhile, during the second innings, Afghanistan’s Mujeeb-ur-Rahman nearly escaped a serious knee injury as he dived to stop the ball from touching the boundary ropes.
As his knee got jammed inside the spongy Dharamsala outfield, it raised doubts over the venue hosting further games in the tournament.

Looking at the video of the instance surfacing on the internet, it appears a lot of work needs to go into solving this issue. Per the latest reports, even on Sunday, the ground staff worked on making conditions friendly for the fielders to dive, as also noted by Trott in the post-match presser on Saturday.

"If you've got players unsure of whether they can dive...," Trott said in the post-match press conference.

"We see the product of cricket all around the world where players are taught and encouraged to improve their fielding. Then when you've got players worried about getting injured... we're lucky Mujeeb hasn't got a serious knee injury towards the end."

"Yes he probably shouldn't have dived with his knee but I think it was Devon Conway earlier from New Zealand... It's something for them [organisers] to look at. I'm definitely not putting any blame on that, but that's something to keep an eye on for the future," the former England batter added.

England ready to bounce after shocking defeat in CWC opener

The world champions, England, suffered a shocking and humiliating defeat at the hands of New Zealand in the CWC opener in Ahmedabad, losing by nine wickets.

Against Bangladesh in their next game, England will want to up the ante and play better cricket to get back to winning ways.

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