'All the money in the game yet...': Sunil Gavaskar, Michael Vaughan slam ICC after back-to-back abandoned games in Florida
'All the money in the game yet...': Sunil Gavaskar, Michael Vaughan slam ICC after back-to-back abandoned games in Florida
NEW DELHI: "ICC should not host the matches where there are no covers to cover the entire ground," said an unhappy Sunil Gavaskar as Team India's final Group A game against Canada was abandoned in Florida without even a toss taking place in the T20 World Cup on Saturday.
There was a cloud cover but no rain and still there was no play possible as the morning showers, prior to the game, had dampened the outfield.
While the groundstaff at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground in Lauderhill worked tirelessly to get the ground ready, the outfield was too wet for play as the match was called off just over an hour after its scheduled start time.
Similar scenes followed a day before at the same venue when the USA vs Ireland game was also called off under similar circumstances. There was no rain on the match day but the heavy showers the day before yesterday left the outfield in no condition for the USA vs Ireland match to take place.
Seeing two back-to-back abandoned games, legendary Gavaskar and former England skipper Michael Vaughan criticised the ICC -- cricket's global governing body and tournament organisers -- for not having enough covers to cover the entire ground.
"You just can't cover the pitch and let the other parts of the ground get wet," said Gavaskar on Star Sports after demanding ICC not to schedule matches at venues that do not have enough covers.
The ongoing T20 World Cup in the Americas (hosted jointly by USA and the Caribbean) has had its fair share of rain interruptions and matches getting affected due to that.
Three abandoned matches, a no result and a few truncated games due to rain and wet outfields have resulted in questions being raised over the arrangements.
There have been multiple occasions, in America and the Caribbean, when amid rain only the centre square has been covered with the outfield left to soak in water.
Already out of the T20 World Cup, Pakistan and Ireland are scheduled to play in Florida on Sunday and it will be interesting to see whether ICC gets into action regarding the covers situation.
Also what ICC does for the remainder of the tournament in rain situations will also be closely monitored.
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