How ICC failed fans with substandard T20 World Cup 2024 preparations in USA

The USA leg of the 2024 T20 World Cup is almost done and dusted. Pakistan’s dead rubber against Ireland in Florida on Sunday will be the last game of the showpiece tournament in the United States of America, with the action soon shifting to the West Indies for the Super Eights as well as the knockout stages.

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For a long time, making the sport of cricket “global” has been on the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) agenda.

One way to make it global was by targeting the American market, where a larger part of the local community prefers baseball and basketball over cricket but offers endless possibilities by being an economy that spends heavily on sports. It was, however, only when the T20 World Cup began that reality struck.

Building up to the tournament off the field, things were going quite smoothly. The Nassau County International Stadium in New York had been made in just over three months, but little did anyone know what was to come in the aftermath of the construction of that ground.

While the USA cricket team has made waves in their T20 World Cup debut, reaching the Super Eights for the first time , things have been far from ideal in the country from organisation point of view. From logistical issues to pitch controversies and teams being made to travel long routes from the hotel to the ground, the organisation has been mostly chaotic and mismanaged.

This is not just any bilateral series or even a tri-series for that matter. It’s the T20 World Cup we’re talking about. A global event but the first ICC tournament in the most advanced economy has been rather underwhelming.

Nassau County Stadium pitches

We are very well aware of all the talk around the “dangerous” nature of the pitches at the Nassau County Stadium in New York. Sure, that ground played host to one of the biggest rivalries in world sport — India vs Pakistan, but the main question is, was it really worth it? Or could it have been hosted elsewhere where the conditions were a lot less harsh, which as a result, would have resulted in much better and less dangerous pitches?

To give context, it was only a few days before the India-Pakistan game on the same New York pitch when India skipper Rohit Sharma was struck on the right arm off Joshua Little’s bouncer. Fortunately for the Men in Blue, that injury was not serious and Rohit was good to go in the next game against Pakistan, despite suffering another injury scare while training .

These undercooked drop-in pitches in fact were transported from Australia’s Adelaide to Florida in only early May, a month before the tournament began. Simply put, it’s not easy to maintain drop-in pitches. It requires rolling, mowing, and if required regular repairs as well. The low scores in most of the matches coupled with the variable bounce were clear proof that these pitches were hardly ready. These pitches should have been in place long before and practice matches should have been played on it in good numbers.

However, in reality, the stadium wasn’t even made ready until May, and it was only in mid-May that the stadium was inaugurated in the presence of sporting icons like Usain Bolt. After a couple of games in the tournament, the ICC was forced to release a statement and promise “better pitches” ahead of the India-Pakistan game. Being the governing body of the sport, better handling of the infrastructure and proper management was expected from the ICC, but instead, they have been a letdown.

Expensive ticket prices

Another aspect of ICC’s mismanagement was the expensive tickets. In particular, the India-Pakistan game, where tickets were being sold at a whopping rate of $10,000 (Rs 8.40 lakh) at one stage and were available even on the eve of the match because of their high rates. India-Pakistan match tickets being available, officially, a day before the match was unheard of.

It wasn’t just the India-Pakistan match, but in other matches as well the ICC got its pricing wrong. Being a bit less money-oriented would have helped them fill more seats.

Wet outfield = match abandoned?

India were scheduled to take on Canada in Florida on Saturday, in what was the last group stage game for both teams. With India qualifying for Super 8 and Canada eliminated, this match was inconsequential, yes, but it would have given an associate team like Canada some exposure by playing a bigger team like India.

There were threats of rain heading into the match, which should not come as a surprise, because severe floods had stormed the city due to which the USA-Ireland match was abandoned. But guess what? There wasn’t a drop of rain the next day morning, when India-Canada was to take place.

The outfield was, however wet, and to the surprise of many, only the pitch as well as the square were covered. The outfield, which was considerably wet from overnight showers, however, was not covered, and not just that, the drainage system wasn’t equipped enough to hold a large amount of rain.

The super soppers, too, were out of order shortly after and that did not help enough as far as the conducting of the match was concerned. There wasn’t a contingency plan in place to dry out the outfield. That’s another curious case of mismanagement from the ICC, whose bid to “globalise” cricket took a back seat with below-par preparations off the field. It’s almost as if the fans were taken for granted.

Some of these fans would have travelled long distances to watch one game of cricket. Instead, it’s been an off-putting kind of experience. Shouldn’t ICC have made better management, in partnership with the concerned local authorities, to allow at least a truncated match to take place?

There will be more questions than answers that ICC will have to face once this T20 World Cup gets over, because, amid a bit of highs here and there, it’s not been a World Cup to remember for the USA from a logistical perspective.