Ever heard of a "makeshift" cricket ground being used to host international matches? If not, prepared to be flabbergasted. New York's Nassau County cricket ground, which was built specifically for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, is not a permanent cricket stadium. Infact, it is all set to be demolished after the New York leg of the event came to an end with India's seven-wicket victory over co-hosts USA here.
The massive structure sat on the edge of the 930-acre Eisenhower Park in Long Island in New York. Built in just over 100 days, the stadium became notorious for its challenging drop-in pitches, which were sourced from Adelaide.
The stadium had 10 drop-in pitches, four for the main ground and six for the adjacent training facility in Cantiague Park. Designed to accomodate as many as 34,000 spectators, it was earlier reproted that Nassau County is the first modular stadium built in the world.
"After the last match is held at East Meadow on June 12, the stadium will be dismantled, the parts shipped back to Las Vegas and another golf event, and Eisenhower Park will return to normal, but with a world-class cricket pitch left behind," a New York Times report had stated a few days ago.
The stadium that "almost popped up overnight" will be dismantled over a period of six weeks. It had a capacity of 34,000 and hosted a housefull crowd during India's marquee clash against Pakistan on June 9 with some tickets sold at an astronomical price of USD 2500 to USD 10,000.
India played four matches at the venue, including a warm-up game against Bangladesh after the ground was thrown open on June 1.
The drop-in pitches hosted eight matches and produced unpredictable and occasionally dangerous bounce, resulting in particularly low scores in the first two matches where no team crossed 100 runs.
In India's match against Ireland, who were bowled out for 96, Rishabh Pant and Rohit Sharma also copped body blows. It led to widespread criticism and prompted the International Cricket Council to issue a statement acknowledging that the "pitches have not played consistently".
The highest successful chase at the venue was only 111 runs by India in their win over USA on Wednesday.
Canada's 137/7 against Ireland was the highest total recorded, while India successfully defended a low total of 119 against Pakistan.
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In a nail-biting match, South Africa barely chased down 103 runs against the Netherlands losing six wickets in the process, and later defended 113 runs against Bangladesh, winning by a narrow margin of four runs.
The venue was finalised by the ICC in 2023 and was built in just 106 days.
"The playing field, with the rectangular pitch in the middle, was fashioned from special grass grown in Florida.
"The grandstands are borrowed materials most recently used at Las Vegas's Formula 1 race and professional golf events," the NYT report added.
- With PTI inputs
