PCB appeals against Rawalpindi pitch demerit point

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) under the regime of Najam Sethi, has appealed to the ICC following their decision to award a demerit point to the Rawalpindi pitch that was used against England last month. The demerit point came after match referee Andy Pycroft deemed the surface 'below par' for the series opener.

The PCB faced backlash from the cricketing fraternity after the first Test match between Pakistan and England was played on a surface that had barely anything for the bowlers. Despite the pitch being a batter's friend, Pakistan succumbed to a damaging defeat in the series opener in a frantic finale. However, the match referee wasn't too pleased with the surface as both sides managed to breach the 500-run mark in the first innings.

"It was a very flat pitch which gave almost no assistance to any type of bowler. 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," Andy Pycroft said after the first Test.

The decision to appeal the ICC sanction was one of the first actions of the Najam Sethi-led committee, which took charge on December 22 and decided to challenge the ICC's decision on December 26. His predecessor Ramiz Raja was critical of the surface as well and had lashed out at the curators for producing an average surface.

"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," Raja had told reporters last month.

It is worth noting that the Rawalpindi pitch received a demerit point earlier last year after producing a similar surface in a series against Australia. While the game against England turned into a thrilling affair, the game between Australia and Pakistan ended in a stalemate with more than 1100 runs scored at the venue across five days.

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