ICC warns Sri Lanka over Galle's 'poor' pitch

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COLOMBO: - Sri Lanka's cricket board (SLC) has been officially warned for the "poor" quality of the pitch at Galle, which hosted the first Test in their recent series against Australia, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Friday.

The SLC was in line for a sanction after the pitch was criticised as "too dry" by both teams after Australia won the test by 125 runs last month.

"It was clear ... that the amount of turn, especially early in the match, was excessive and there were occasions... where the ball went through the surface of the pitch, bouncing
unusually steeply from a good length," ICC general manager Dave Richardson was quoted as saying in a statement.

"...taking into account that it was the first time that a pitch at Galle has been rated as 'poor', and given the intention of the curator to prepare a pitch that provided a fair balance
between bat and ball, we have decided to impose a warning as the sanction."

The world governing body of the game also directed pitch consultant Andy Atkinson to inspect the ground at the end of this month and recommend necessary corrective measures.

SLC will have to submit a report to the ICC confirming that the corrective actions had been implemented before the staging of the next international match at the venue.(Reuters)