Cricket head weighs-in on pitch debate

President of the Antigua and Barbuda Cricket Association (ABCA), Leon Rodney, has joined the ongoing debate over the quality of the pitch prepared for the semifinals and final of the 2018 ICC Women’s World T20 Championships held here last week.
Critics have questioned the preparation of the pitch, suggesting that it was not conducive for the fluent scoring of runs typically associated with a T20 match.
Rodney said that one must accept that not all pitches play the same.
“As far as I am concerned the two teams played on the pitch and the pitch is not better for you than it is for me. I know that T20 cricket comes with an expectation that people must just beat the bowlers’ world without end, but at the end of the day the two teams are competing on the same strip,” he said. 
A former player, Rodney said that all the teams played under similar conditions on the pitch which presented a fair and balanced playing field to all.
“The time is not much different because T20 cricket is like 80 minutes to complete one segment and then 80 more minutes so the time is not much different to say that it’s a Test match where you would bat for the whole day and then some rains come and the pitch changes tomorrow,” he said.
Australia romped to an eight-wicket victory over England in the final at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium. (Neto Baptiste)