A delivery from Shoaib Bashir raised eyebrows on day one of England's first Test match against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford today (August 21), when it scuttled through low to the ground trapping Dinesh Chandimal lbw.
Chandimal went back to the back of a length ball looking to work it into the leg side. However, the ball kept extremely low and turned in from outside off, striking Chandimal near his ankle. Despite being sent upstairs, the technology returned three reds and Chandimal became the fifth Sri Lanka wicket to fall before Lunch.
The ball was the second in consecutive overs from Bashir which barely got off the surface. While England's quick bowlers found decent pace and movement early in the session, Bashir being brought on for a couple of overs at the end of the session showed inconsistencies in the surface. Those inconsistencies could spell trouble for Old Trafford if they're deemed to have breached the ICC's pitch preparation regulations.
Bashir strikes in only his second over 😲💥 pic.twitter.com/evWunci70P
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) August 21, 2024
The ICC regulations for Test match pitches specify that: "It is acceptable for a pitch to offer some degree of turn on the first day of a match, particularly in the sub-continuent, though anything more than occasional unevenness of bounce at this stage of the match is not acceptable. It is to be expected that a pitch will turn steadily more as a match progresses, and it is recognised that a greater degree of unevenness of bounce may develop."
So, what would the reaction of that Chandimal wicket be had it been an England player on the first morning of a Test in India?
— George Dobell (@GeorgeDobell1) August 21, 2024
The regulations split pitches into four categories: 'Very Good', 'Satisfactory', 'Unsatisfactory' and 'Unfit'. If a pitch is deemed to fall into one of the two less than satisfactory categories, it will be given demerit points, which remain active for five years after they are awarded. If six points are accumulated by a single venue, that venue will be suspended from hosting international matches for 12 months.
Earlier this year, the pitch for India's Test match against South Africa at Newlands was rated 'poor', after the match finished inside five sessions. There was also controversy over the pitch in Ahmedabad during England's series in India, although that pitch was deemed satisfactory. It was announced yesterday that the New York pitch for the India v Pakistan game in the 2024 men's T20 World Cup was ranked 'satisfactory', despite condemnation of uneven bounce at the time on the drop-in wicket.
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