After assuming charge as the Pakistan Cricket Board’s Chairman, Ramiz Raja was keen on installing drop-in pitches in Pakistan in order to improve the quality of cricket but now the board wants to hire a consultant to find out whether it is feasible to have Australian-made pitches in Pakistan.
According to the details, the cricket board had also signed an agreement with the Arif Habib Group last year but now PCB has asked the investment company to hold the purchase of the pitches. Now, the board is likely to bring soil from Australia and use it at multiple locations as part of a trial.
While talking to Cricinfo, the PCB spokesperson said that the board has hired an Australian expert on drop-in pitches who will visit Pakistan in April this year and will suggest the venue after a thorough assessment and evaluation of all potential venues.
“In this regard, we’ve hired an Australian expert on drop-in pitches as a consultant, who will tour Pakistan in April and visit all potential venues for a complete assessment and evaluation before suggesting next steps.”
“As we don’t have experts on drop-in pitches, we need to have a feasibility about everything around it. There are several critical elements to the success of this initiative, including weather conditions, usage of the venues, soil requirements, and overall design and outlook of the venue,” he added.
Austalia and New Zealand use drop-in pitches as most of their stadiums are hosting multiple sports but in Pakistan, cricket is the only sport played at these venues while the board maintains all stadiums throughout the year, employing their own curators for each venue.
