The outfield was rated average after the Afghanistan-Bangladesh match with the ICC independent pitch consultant “comfortable” with its state
Matt Roller08-Oct-2023England’s boundary fielders are bracing for a challenging day in Dharamsala on Tuesday, after being warned about the condition of the outfield at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium by their former batter and current Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott.The grass on the sand-based outfield is patchy and uneven, and several players slipped or lost their footing while fielding in the deep during Bangladesh’s six-wicket win over Afghanistan on Saturday. The outfield is a long-standing problem at the venue, and had caused an India-Australia Test to be moved to Indore at short notice in February.Trott had said that Mujeeb Ur Rahman was “lucky” to escape “a serious knee injury” when his knee dug into the turf as he attempted to make a boundary save. It is understood that he has contacted England players to warn them about its condition ahead of their fixture against Bangladesh.Related
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The match officials’ report for Saturday’s game described the condition of the outfield as “average”, while Andy Atkinson, the ICC independent pitch consultant, inspected it on Sunday and was described as “comfortable” with its state.”The process for assessing the condition of the pitch and outfield lies with the match officials under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process, and the outfield at Dharamsala was rated as average after the Afghanistan vs Bangladesh match,” an ICC spokesperson said. “Additionally, the ICC independent pitch consultant has taken a look at the outfield today, and is comfortable with the conditions – as is Javagal Srinath, the Match Referee for the next game.”The HPCA ground staff watered the outfield immediately after the game, and did so again on Sunday afternoon – particularly the areas around the bowlers’ run-ups. Tuesday’s match will be played on a fresh pitch, two strips across from the unusually slow surface for Saturday’s.In the worst-case scenario, the umpires could – after consultation with the match referee – deem the condition of the ground as “dangerous or unreasonable”, causing the game to be suspended in the first instance, and then abandoned. In that event, the teams would share the points. On Tuesday, Ahsan Raza and Paul Wilson will be the standing umpires, with Srinath as the match referee.Jonny Bairstow, who spent eight months out of the game with an ankle injury last year, said that it would be difficult for fielders to fight their inclination to dive for balls, but that he expects England will be “clever and smart” as they hope to avoid any serious injuries.”There’s been a lot of chat about it, hasn’t there?” Bairstow said. “The last thing you want is two guys going off with knee injuries or something. It can contribute to shoulders as well, if you’re diving and your elbows get stuck in the ground. It will be very difficult to hold someone back if they see a ball and they try to stop it: it’s a natural reaction to go for it.”Bairstow’s ankle is still “getting better as time goes on”. He said: “It’s still relatively fresh. But, touch wood, there hasn’t been any adverse reaction to different surfaces. Your calves and Achilles and anything… people need to make sure you do everything possible to make sure those areas are loose and able to cope with the stress of a sand-based outfield.”The outfield was slow during Sunday’s match, and Bairstow said that England will have to adapt accordingly. “It might also affect your angles and where you stand: when the ball hits the sandy outfield, it might not fly off as much. It just affects different things. It’s like a pitch being different [from] one venue to another: you’ve just got to adapt to it. Touch wood, we don’t have any major incidents.”The state of the outfield could be a contributing factor in England being unlikely to pick Ben Stokes, who missed their nine-wicket defeat to New Zealand with a left-hip injury. Stokes spent half an hour batting in their nets session on Sunday, but only faced sidearm throws rather than bowlers, and moved gingerly throughout.He then briefly went through some running drills on the main square. Stokes did not feature in either of England’s warm-up matches – the first was washed out but he was not due to play – and had only batted once previously since arriving in India, in a training session in Guwahati.
