Cricket | ICC upholds Mirpur pitch's "below average" sanction<br>

APD NEWS

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The Sher-e-Bangla stadium in Dhaka will have to carry one demerit point for the next five years after International Cricket Board shot down Bangladesh Cricket Board's appeal against the sanction imposed on the venue last month. If the venue collects four more demerit points during this period, it'll be banned from hosting international games for a year.

Both tracks in the series, in Chittagong and Dhaka, were rated below average by the ICC. While in Chittagong as many as five centuries and six half-centuries were hit in the game, the surface in Dhaka produced uneven bounce and inconsistent turn.

"From day one, there was evidence of the ball breaking the pitch surface, which resulted in uneven bounce throughout the match, along with inconsistent turn, which was even excessive at times. This pitch produced a contest that was too heavily skewed in favour of the bowlers, and didn't give the batsmen a fair chance to display their skills," ICC Match Referee David Boon had said then about the surface for the second Test of the two-match series.

"The Bangladesh Cricket Board's appeal against the sanction was considered by Geoff Allardice, General Manager - Cricket, and Anil Kumble, Chair of the Cricket Committee, who after taking into account the grounds for appeal and other relevant information, came to the conclusion that the rating given by David Boon of the Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees was correct," the ICC said in a release on Friday (March 16).

(CRICBUZZ)