PCA wickets impress ICC pitch consultant

The PCA Stadium in Mohali has got a thumbs-up from ICC pitch consultant Andy Atkinson who visited and inspected the Mohali wickets which will host two league and one semi-final matches in the 2011 World Cup. Addressing a press conference in Mohali,he said, "I am reasonably happy with the ground. There is nothing much to report." Throwing light on International Cricket Council's (ICC) plans for the World Cup. "International Cricket Council is not trying to enforce anything in specific with regards to the preparation of the pitches for the upcoming World Cup in the Asian sub-continent. There can be no way we can have a standardised system for the pitches. We only want wickets that have even and consistent bounce and that behaves more or less uniformly for 100 overs," he said. "ICC is going to hold its Annual General Meeting in Dubai shortly where I am going to submit my report," Atkinson, who has so far inspected 13 venues besides about 30 training grounds during the past three weeks in the sub-continent, said.

The 43-day-long World Cup will be played in February next year across 13 venues in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, with the final on April 2 at Mumbai's Wankhede stadium.

Kotla pitch getting betterOn being asked about the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in Delhi, where the final match of the India-Sri Lanka ODI series last year was being abandoned due to pitch behaviour, Atkinson said turf has now been re-laid and things are looking better."I was there yesterday. We are expecting rainy season to begin and the pitch should benefit from that. Things at Kotla may be slightly behind schedule, but there is not anything worrying. Stadium is looking good," he said.

Atkinson informed that there will be a "big inspection" of all the venues sometime in October, where a group of 15-20 top officials of the ICC will make a complete check of the facilities that includes the stadium, flood lights, airports, ticket allocations and hotel accommodation. Adding further, he said the ICC has directed to have the playing grounds shut 4-5 weeks before the mega-event begins.He said the quality of pitches in India has improved quite a lot during the past 5-6 years.