The New York leg of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, co-hosted by the West Indies and the United States of America, at the Nassau Cricket Stadium has finished, with India qualifying for the ‘super-eight’ stage of the tournament with a seven-wicket victory in the 111-run chase.
The question stands what will happen with the ground, which has already given so many low-scoring thrillers during the ninth edition of the T20 World Cup? The final decision has already been made, as it will be dismantled in around 42 days, and work will begin on Wednesday.
The Eisenhower Park, which hosted the stadium was transformed into a fortress for the games and the spectators in around 106 days, while its original state of the muddy and dusty surface was accessible to the public.
Nassau Cricket Stadium will be remembered for low-scoring thrillers
The surface at the Nassau Cricket Stadium was quite tricky and challenging to the batters, as the bowlers, especially the fast bowlers loved every bit of it. There was swing and seam movement for a long time, and even if the sun came out or the hardness of the new ball was removed, run-scoring still remained the hardest job on this surface.
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The outfield was quite rough too, as the batters were not getting enough benefit from their shots. The spinners were going for runs, on almost a single occasion, but as far as the fast bowlers are concerned, they also found a few balls either getting too much bounce or not bouncing from the knee high.
There is still uncertainty about the fate of those pitches. The International Cricket Council (ICC) however, has left it to the Nassau authorities for the maintenance of the surfaces.
“If they want to keep them and handle the required maintenance, they can.’ An ICC official commented.
They will however look to re-locate the drop-in surfaces which were prepared in Florida with expertise being taken from Adelaide Oval of South Australia, which has been quite the subject of discussion among the cricket fraternity.
There were questions on whether a few games of the second edition of the Major Cricket League (MLC) could be played in Nassau Cricket Stadium, but the franchises haven’t really shown much interest in this prospect, as they look forward to building a new stadium in the near future.
The New York is the base for the Mumbai Indians (MI), and it can easily be expected from the Ambani group to construct a new stadium, with better surfaces.
The last two weeks in this ground have been quite a puzzling one for the batters, as on June 09, under bright sunshine, Pakistan failed to chase 120 runs in their 20 overs, even from a point when they required 48 runs at run-a-ball with eight wickets in hand. Even during the South Africa and Bangladesh games, the former successfully defended a low total of 113.
India struggled to make their way to 111 against the USA until Suryakaumar Yadav and Shivam Dube came out with aggression in the latter half of the game. The average first-innings total of the Nassau Cricket Stadium has been 108, with the 2007 champions being the only side to register a successful chase on those surfaces.
Canada posted the highest total on the ground after batting first- 137 against Ireland, and with some discipline bowling managed to earn the victory by 12 runs. Now it’s up to the authorities whether they want to carry those surfaces in Nassau Cricket Stadium for better preparation in the future.