“If cricket wants to make headway in USA…”: Ian Chappell gives solutions for promotion of sport in United States

New Delhi [India], : Former Australian cricketer Ian Chappell said that the dangerous and “ropey” pitches in the USA during the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup should not be accepted despite all the nail-biting games produced, if the game is to be promoted in the United States.

The pitches in USA’s Nassau County International Stadium in particular have met immense criticism from current and ex-players alike for their unpredictable bounce and poor play which made batting very difficult to a point that even a score of 100-120 runs proved to be a match-winning one with boundaries not coming in plenty. The surfaces favoured the bowlers heavily, be it spinners or pacers. The slow outfield was also criticised for making run-scoring and boundaries, that makes the entertainment factor in T20 cricket, extremely difficult.

In his column for the ESPNCricinfo, Chappell wrote, “The pitches in the USA again generated controversy, particularly the New York venue, which attracted a lot of negative publicity and proved to be difficult for batters. In many cases a score just exceeding 100 proved to be a match-winner.”

Chappell opened up on how the USA’s reputation for “dodgy pitches” is not a new one but in fact could be traced back to a 1999 series between India A and Australia A, a five-match series in Los Angeles, which featured future legends VVS Laxman and Adam Gilchrist as captains. With the USA coming to the Super Eights stage, such pitches are not good enough.

“The USA’s reputation for providing dodgy pitches isn’t a recent one. In September 1999, I covered an India A vs Australia A five-match series in Los Angeles, where the respective skippers were VVS Laxman and Adam Gilchrist, both of whom went on to enjoy illustrious international careers,” he said.

“The pitches on that occasion could only be described as “ropey”, especially when genuine pacemen like Brett Lee operated. Dodgy pitches were accepted with a shrug of the shoulders in 1999 but, with the USA team qualifying for the Super Eight and being promoted as a viable cricket nation, this is not good enough. Mind you, USA cricket has long been wracked by organisational turmoil and this could be yet another example of the chaos that exists among their administration,” he added. He said while no pitches should totally favour batters, there are no excuses to have dangerous surfaces.

“There is a highly competitive cricket rivalry still to be played in the Super Eight – India vs Australia. This has become a blockbuster contest in recent years. Even if these two teams provide yet another exciting contest, it should not camouflage the USA problem. If cricket wants to make headway in the USA it has to vastly improve the administration and their pitches, while also convincing locally-born players it’s a game worth playing,” he added.

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