After a so-called green top cricket pitch prepared for the first Test between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh produced the tamest of high-scoring draws last Sunday, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has rebuked the venue at Pallekele and given it a demerit point.
The ICC’s Elite Panel match referee Ranjan Madugalle rated the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium pitch as “below average” that was not conducive to Test cricket.
“The character of the pitch hardly changed over the course of five days. There was no shift in balance between bat and ball as the game progressed.
“The pitch remained batting friendly throughout, resulting in a total of 1289 runs scored in the match for the loss of 17 wickets at an average of 75.82 runs per wicket, which is very high. “Therefore, in keeping with the ICC guidelines I rate this pitch as below average,” Madugalle said in his report to the ICC.
Under the ICC’s demerit points system, a venue can be blacklisted and not host matches for a 12-month period should the total number of demerit points accumulate to a minimum five and banned for up to two years should the points total up to 10 or more over a five-year rolling period.