After rain forced the one-off test between Afghanistan and New Zealand to be abandoned without any play, head coach Jonathan Trott has said the only unpredictable weather has to be blamed as scheduling a match during monsoon season is “always tricky”.
The rain and the wet outfield have played spoilsport and authorities at the Noida were at their wits end to make the field suitable for play.
“We were very excited to play against New Zealand and put ourselves up against the challenge of that,” said Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott.
“Unfortunately, the weather has played its part and it’s made it difficult for us to get a game and we’re very disappointed. To try and play a Test match at this time of year (monsoon) is always tricky.
“(In terms of facilities) obviously disappointed that we haven’t been able to play as the amount of water that’s come down is unprecedented for this time of year,” he added.
“There were a few things discussed, but we looked at the ground today, and it was never really going to be attainable, unfortunately.
“The other thing is you’ve got to make sure that there’s obviously a huge desire to play cricket but you’ve got to take into account the safety of the players because New Zealand have got a huge tour coming up,” Trott said.
Stead said that BlackCaps were also frustrated as they were looking at this fixture as a preparation for the upcoming WTC series against Sri Lanka and India.
“It’s frustrating for us. It was our first Test against Afghanistan and we were really excited about that as well. They’ve been great competitors of ours over the last few World Cups as well.”
New Zealand will be starting to Sri Lanka on Saturday on a two-match test series, starting in Galle on September 18.
“For us, we have the World Test Championship just around the corner in Sri Lanka as well. So, the preparation towards that would have been really useful for us as well,” he said.
“So, the most disappointing part for us is that we’ve lost that ability to be match-hardened and match-ready when we go into our Test match next week,” Stead lamented.
Stead said that former WTC champions are looking to qualify for a second final.
“The World Test Championship is alive and well and we’re currently in third place, and we want to make the finals again. We’ve been there once in the past, and we’re desperate to get there again. “So every Test match we play will be an important one,” he said.
Currently, India secured top position while Australia and New Zealand secured second and third position in the WTC points table.
“The conditions that we face in Galle will be, I’m sure, different to Bangalore, Pune, and Mumbai when we come back here again. So, it’s still about adapting to the different surfaces,” said Stead.
Despite sunshine on the opening two days, no play was possible as the umpires cited players’ safety as a concern owing to the poor condition of the outfield.
“It’s worth noting I think it’s been 1200 millimeters of rain in the last week and even though it was fine for those two days, there were thunderstorms the nights before and the ground was just too soft and the umpires deemed that unfit to play on,” Gary Stead said.
Afghanistan will be playing a three-match ODI series against South Africa on September 18 at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
