ICC upholds Mirpur pitch’s sanctions

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has upheld its decision to impose one demerit point on the Sher-e- Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka for a below-average pitch produced for the second Test between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in February, reports ESPNCricinfo.

ICC's general manager (cricket) Geoff Allardice and cricket committee chairman Anil Kumble concluded that match referee David Boon's rating was correct, after the BCB had appealed the sanctions.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB) appeal was reportedly centered on the argument that the pitch wasn't a departure from the usual surfaces in Dhaka, given the weather and conditions at that time of the year.

Boon had reported that the "pitch had uneven bounce throughout the match and inconsistent turn". The Test was over an hour after lunch on the third day, with Sri Lanka winning by 215 runs. Thirty of the 40 wickets to fall in the match went to spinners; Bangladesh lasted all of 75.1 overs.

According to the ICC's revised pitch and outfield monitoring process, introduced on January 4 this year, demerit points will remain active for a rolling five-year period. When a venue accumulates five demerit points (or crosses that threshold), it will be suspended from hosting any international cricket for a period of 12 months. A venue will be suspended from staging any international cricket for 24 months when it reaches the threshold of 10 demerit points.

Last September, the ICC had rated the Sher-e- Bangla National Stadium's outfield "poor" after the first Bangladesh-Australia Test.

The good news for the BCB is that the Mirpur outfield has become far better since then, while the pitches have played well during the ongoing Dhaka Premier League List-A competition.