Wanderers pitch for SA vs India Test rated poor by ICC

The Wanderers in Johannesburg has received three demerit points for producing a “poor” pitch during the third Test between South Africa and India last week.

Match referee Andy Pycroft rated the Wanderers pitch as “poor” and according to the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process‚ the venue has received three demerit points.

The demerit points will remain active for a rolling five-year period and Wanderers will be suspended from staging international matches for a year if it reaches the threshold of five demerit points in that period.

“The pitch prepared for the final Test was a poor one‚" Pycroft.

"It had excessively steep and unpredictable bounce‚ and excessive seam movement.

"It deteriorated quickly as the match progressed‚ which made batting extremely difficult and hazardous‚ resulting in the medical staff from both sides having to come onto the field of play multiple times to treat their batsmen.

"As the on-field umpires are also responsible for the players’ safety‚ they expressed concerns about the behavior of the pitch‚ and debated after day three if it was appropriate to continue the match.

"In the end‚ the umpires made the decision to continue and the Test reached its natural conclusion on day four.

"However‚ there was still excessive variable bounce and seam movement when the Test match ended‚” said Pycroft.

Stumps were called early on day three by the umpires after South African opening batsman Dean Elgar was hit by a bouncer from Jasprit Bumrah on the helmet with the pitch showing excessive movement and steep bounce.