This article first appeared here https://theparttimer.substack.com/p/welcome-to-crickets-culture-of-incompetence and is reproduced by kind permission of the author, Nathan Johns @nathanrjohns 

Welcome to cricket's culture of incompetence

This T20 World Cup has featured logistical issues that should render the poor quality of the pitch for India vs Ireland as no surprise.

Never has so much gardening been done in a T20 game. With Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj sending down thunderbolts which zipped and seamed aplenty, after every almost ball of their partnership Harry Tector and Lorcan Tucker would meet in the middle of the wicket. Using their bats to hammer away at the spot where the ball pitched, they attempted to bash out some of the demons in this farcical New York pitch.

Any sort of analysis of Ireland’s eight-wicket defeat which began their T20 World Cup campaign is nigh on impossible given the circumstances. Do you blame the players for failing to adapt to the ball continually moving sideways throughout the innings, or focus instead on the ICC for providing a surface which so hampers the side which loses the toss to the point where competitive balance ceases to exist?

Examining the first line of thought, Ireland’s ability to adapt on the fly to conditions can be questioned. Three batters departed trying to play cross bat shots, minimising the proportion of the bat face making contact with a ball jagging aplenty. Were Ireland attacking too much, staying true to a refined aggression policy which has worked well for them of late?

“Stirlo [captain Paul Stirling], after three or four overs, said if we can get a score that’s in any way defendable we’re in with a chance because of the movement,” explained batting coach Gary Wilson. “[It was a case of] not having the mindset of ‘we’re playing against India, we have to get 180, 190’ - it’s not that type of pitch. It’s can we get to a competitive score and we were a little bit short of that. I wouldn’t say we were miles short.”

It sounds like criticism of some of Ireland’s shot selection is fair. Particularly of the likes of Stirling, Dockrell and Adair who, albeit with the ball seaming absurd amounts even off shorter lengths, tried to either pull or cut hard in front of square. Wilson sees it somewhat differently. Is it that easy to tell naturally aggressive players to reel it in?

“I see where you’re going with it but it’s still T20 cricket. You have to marry up the type of player playing those shots. What’s their best chance of getting runs on any given day on any given surface? We are going to go away and assess how we get that competitive score.”

According to the second argument, that which blames the ICC, it’s difficult to be too critical of the players. In the majority of leagues and bilateral games across the world, white ball matches are played on flat tracks to maximise scoring. New York wasn’t that. This was an Australian pitch with a penchant for uneven bounce combined with lateral movement - quite literally - every ball. How in the name of god can you expect players who play 90 per cent of their matches on roads to adapt to that?

Heinrich Malan said after the game that Ireland wouldn’t be making excuses. It’s a fair attitude to take publicly, but behind the scenes you’d expect him and his players to be fuming.

More generally, Ireland have plenty of reasons to be unhappy with the ICC. The embarrassment with the pitch is just the latest example of this tournament being a ramshackle event which now might not be saved by the quality of cricket if the first New York games are anything to go by.

Ireland hadn’t set foot into Eisenhower Park until Wednesday’s contest. India, by contrast, played a warm-up game here against Bangladesh.

Ireland, at a reasonably late juncture, had their hotel changed by the ICC from one which was close to the ground (where India are staying) to another 90 minutes away in Brooklyn.

“It's obviously not ideal," said Malan. "The first time we took some catches was when the guys were here warming up, But that's not an excuse. We try to create an environment that is adaptable and versatile and controls the controllables.”

Diplomacy aside, preparation disparities were not the winning or losing of the game. The toss and India’s superior quality were. But the fact it was deemed acceptable that one side had prematch access to the ground and another didn’t says plenty. The fact that one side is forced to endure a more disruptive commute, both to morning matches and training facilities reasonably close to the ground, is part of the same broth of inadequacy which culminated in the pitch fiasco.

Both teams played a straight bat when asked publicly about the chaos. Rest assured, there is plenty of anger behind the scenes. Malan and Wilson fielded questions about the pitch at the post match press conference, but no Irish players were put forward for the mixed zone, lest further queries on the conditions be forthcoming. With the square unlikely to change drastically before Friday’s game with Canada, Ireland could find themselves out of the tournament if they once again lose the toss. “I think it brings all teams closer together,” acknowledged Wilson when asked about the effect of the difficult surface.

India, too, cannot be happy. They play Pakistan in New York on Sunday in the fixture that was the whole point of coming to America. The Ireland match wasn’t a full house, but the subcontinental battle in front of two massive expat communities will be. What will India do if next time Rohit Sharma loses the toss and has to bat first with Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf steaming in on this pitch? Pray for the best.

If India had batted first against Ireland and lost in these circumstances there would have been war. There still may well be depending on what happens in that Pakistan game. The biggest contest of this tournament risks descending into a spectacle which damages the very product being marketed to a new American audience.

The ICC have created this rod for their own back. Sorting out a good pitch in New York in such a short timeframe was always going to be difficult. But any potential issues or risks, if even identified, were not rectified. This should come as no surprise. If they don’t dwell on equal access to the venue or even something as basic as pre-game travel, they won’t get it right with an issue as complicated as growing grass in Florida and transferring it thousands of kilometres north. Incompetence is a culture.

Welcome to cricket in 2024. In a year which has been dominated so far by administration issues at home, Irish attention has shifted to the global stage. It’s the same culture of questionable management, only on a much larger and far more damaging scale.