The Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium has received a second demerit point in less than a year after preparing a "very flat pitch" for the first Test between England and Pakistan, with the International Cricket Council (ICC) rating the surface as "below average".
England were able to force a stunning 74-run victory in Rawalpindi despite the lifeless pitch, which saw a total of 1,768 runs scored across all five days as well as seven separate centurions. It was only thanks to England's record quick scoring rate, a bold declaration from captain Ben Stokes and some imaginative bowling plans that the visitors were able to force a result.
Even Ramiz Raja, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, branded the pitch "embarrassing". He told reporters: "We live in the dark ages of pitches in Pakistan.
"It is embarrassing for us, especially when you have a cricketer as chairman. This is not a good advert for cricket. We're a better cricketing nation than this.
"I think our way out is for drop-in pitches. If you want to nail England, for example, we've got to prepare a drop-in pitch that turns from ball number one.
"It is better than having this hodge-podge where you get a half-baked pitch which is neither quick nor spin." And ICC match referee Andy Pycroft agreed with Raja's assessment of the pitch, stating it offered "almost no assistance to any type of bowler".
"It was a very flat pitch which gave almost no assistance to any type of bowler," Pycroft said. "That was the main reason why batters scored very fast and both sides posted huge totals.
"The pitch hardly deteriorated during the course of the match. Since there was very little in it for the bowlers, I found the pitch to be 'below average' as per the ICC guidelines."
The Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium also received a demerit point back in March after the pitch for the first Test between Australia and Pakistan, which ended in a draw after 1,1187 runs were scored across all five days, was also rated "below average". According to the ICC's laws, a venue "will be suspended from hosting any international cricket for a period of 12 months" if it accumulates five demerit points, with those points active across a five-year period.
