DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, CMC — Queen’s Park Oval has been slapped with an official warning by the International Cricket Council over the sub-standard outfield which wrecked the recent fourth Test between West Indies and India.
Only 1-¾ hours of play were possible in the game at the Port of Spain-based venue after the outfield failed to recover from a heavy downpour on the opening day and remained water-logged throughout the remaining four days.
The game finished in a no result with India claiming a 2-0 win in the four-match series. Queen’s Park
Queen’s Park Oval was one of two grounds — along with Kingsmead in Durban — to receive an official sanction.
“The International Cricket Council (ICC) has today announced that Durban and Port of Spain have been given official warnings under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process following the South Africa versus New Zealand and West Indies versus India Tests last month,” the ICC said Thursday.
“The sanctions take into account Durban and Port of Spain venues’ history of producing good conditions for international cricket and commitment by both the boards to take appropriate steps to ensure similar events are not repeated in future.”
The ICC’s general manager for cricket, Geoff Allardice along with ICC match referee, David Boon, dealt with the Queen’s Park Oval matter, with the sanction decided based on clause 4 of the Outfield Monitoring Process.
Ranjan Madugalle, the match referee for the Oval Test, had rated the outfield as “poor”.
The game finished in a farcical manner last month when the last four days of the game were abandoned without a ball bowled because of a soggy outfield at the historic ground, despite the abundance of sunny weather.
Followed a delayed start because of the weather, rain returned to halt play just before lunch on the opening day and action never resumed in the game. The wash-out sparked debate about the ground’s drainage system and mopping up operations.
The Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board and the Queen’s Park Cricket Club announced they would launch a joint investigation into the matter and present their findings to the West Indies Cricket Board.
