Galle Pitch Rated 'Poor' By Match Referee Broad

Galle Pitch Rated 'Poor' By Match Referee Broad

The pitch at Galle has been rated as poor by ICC match referee Chris Broad

©REUTERS / Action Images

International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee Chris Broad has rated the pitch produced for the recently-concluded opening Test between Australia and Sri Lanka at Galle as 'poor'.

David Richardson, ICC General Manager - Cricket and chief match referee Ranjan Madugalle will now consider evidence available to them, including video footage and Broad's report before making a decision on the venue.

Australia went on to win the game, which saw 40 wickets fall for 840 runs, by 125 runs with spin bowling playing a dominant role from an early stage.

Broad's report is part of  the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process which was introduced in 2006 and applies to all Tests, One-Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals.

The ICC has, under the terms of the process, supplied Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) with a copy of Broad's report and has requested the board to respond. SLC has 14 days with which to respond to the ICC, which will make no further comment until a final decision is made.

Recently, the Feroz Shah Kotla ground in Delhi was banned from hosting international cricket, as was the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua although these followed matches when games had to be abandoned due to the unsafe nature of the pitch.

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