ICC warns Sri Lanka over Galle’s ‘poor’ pitch

COLOMBO, (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s cricket board (SLC)  has been officially warned for the “poor” quality of the pitch  at Galle, which hosted the first test in their recent series  against Australia, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said  today.
The SLC was in line for a sanction after the pitch was  criticised as “too dry” by both teams after Australia won the  test by 125 runs last month.
“It was clear … that the amount of turn, especially early  in the match, was excessive and there were occasions… where  the ball went through the surface of the pitch, bouncing  unusually steeply from a good length,” ICC general manager Dave  Richardson was quoted as saying in a statement.
“…taking into account that it was the first time that a  pitch at Galle has been rated as ‘poor’, and given the intention  of the curator to prepare a pitch that provided a fair balance  between bat and ball, we have decided to impose a warning as the  sanction.”
The world governing body of the game also directed pitch  consultant Andy Atkinson to inspect the ground at the end of  this month and recommend necessary corrective measures.
SLC will have to submit a report to the ICC confirming that  the corrective actions had been implemented before the staging  of the next international match at the venue.