Queen's Park Oval gets warning, 'poor' rating for India-West Indies Test

The ICC today gave official warning and rated the pitch and outfield of the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain as “Poor” following the Test match between India and West Indies which saw more than four and half days of play being lost to poor drainage facilities. A similar warning was also handed out to Kingsmead in Durban following a South Africa versus New Zealand Test match where more than three and half days of play was lost. “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,” an ICC release stated. [caption id=“attachment_2996626” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Umpires Nigel Llong, left, Gregory Brathwaite, center, and Rod Tucker inspect the field as a wet ground delays the start of day three of the fourth cricket Test match between India and West Indies at Queen’s Park Oval. AP[/caption] “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 CSA’s response was reviewed by ICC’s General Manager - Cricket, Geoff Allardice, and Ranjan Madugalle, while Mr Allardice and David Boon, also from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees, assessed the WICB’s reply. Both the matters were decided in accordance with Clause 4 of the process,” the release further stated. Andy Pycroft and Mr Madugalle, both from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees, in accordance with Clause 3 of the pitch and outfield monitoring process, had rated the quality of the outfields as “poor” for the first Test between South Africa and New Zealand, and the fourth Test between the West Indies and India, respectively.