The International Cricket Council (ICC) used a chemical spray to reduce the impact of dew on Wednesday’s Champions Trophy match between Pakistan and New Zealand, saying it was in the interests of a fair contest.
Excessive dew late in the evening often tilts the balance in favour of teams batting second in day-night matches. The dew makes the pitch fresh and the bowlers face problems in gripping the ball that gets damp after rolling over a moist outfield.
The ICC said it sought to ”knock the dew factor for a six” by reducing the moisture in the ground.
The chemical APSA-80, commonly used in agriculture, was sprayed on the outfield at Mohali.
”Dew and the effect it has on day-night cricket has been something that everyone is conscious of,” the ICC’s cricket operations manager, David Richardson, said in a statement.
”Although it has not played a major role in the Champions Trophy so far, we’re keen that should remain the case,” Richardson said.
”Every match should be a fair contest between bat and ball.”
Richardson said the decision to use the spray was approved by the tournament’s technical committee.
He said if the experiment proved successful, ”the spraying procedure will likely be used at other venues where dew is expected to form”.
Last week, the ICC sprayed polyvinyl acetate on a pitch in Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium, seeking to bind the surface so that it would last 100 overs.
”We’ll also ensure that outfields are not watered on the day of a match, and that they are cut shorter to reduce the amount of grass that is available for dew to cling to,” Richardson said. — Sapa-AP