KARACHI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) assessed the Rawalpindi surface as ‘below average’ on Thursday, where the first Test of the historic Pakistan-Australia series was played.

Following this, the venue has been given one demerit point under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process.

The match referee of the Rawalpindi Test Ranjan Madugalle, who is also a member of the ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees, rated the pitch and said the character of ‘pitch hardly changed’.

“The character of the pitch hardly changed over the course of five days and that there has been no deterioration apart from the bounce getting slightly lower,” he said.

“The pitch did not have a great deal of pace and bounce in it for the seamers nor assisted the spinners as the match progressed. In my view, this does not represent an even contest between bat and ball. Therefore, in keeping with the ICC guidelines, I rate this pitch as below average,” he further stated.

It is pertinent to mention here that according to the amended ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process, match referees will award one demerit point to venues with below-average pitches, while three and five demerit points would be handed to venues with poor and unsuitable pitches, respectively. Whereas, demerit points will remain active for a rolling five-year period.

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