Atkinson holds DDCA responsible for Kotla pitch fiasco

NEW DELHI: ICC pitch consultant Andy Atkinson has held the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) responsible for last year's Ferozeshah Kotla pitch fiasco while absolving curator Daljit Singh.
Atkinson's report comes after he visited the stadium to suggest corrective measures for the pitch, deemed too dangerous during an India-Sri Lanka match which was eventually abandoned in December last year.
Atkinson said BCCI former pitch and grounds committee chairman Daljit had given the right suggestions but the DDCA over-ruled him.
"...the decision to use Perennial Rye grass was the only option left at a very late stage in an attempt to obtain some grass cover for the ODI on the 27th December and was recommended by Mr Daljit Singh (Chairman BCCI Pitches Committee) quite correctly as an emergency measure," Atkinson wrote in his report published by 'Cricinfo'.
"Unfortunately the then local authority of DDCA did not agree with that course of action and went ahead and planted some local Cynodon grass, creating damage to the surface levels in doing so. As predicted this grass did not grow then..." he added in an eight-page report sent to BCCI's chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty.
Soon after the incident, BCCI disbanded the Pitches and Ground Committee and ICC slapped a one-year international ban on the venue.
Atkinson felt the pitch surface had been damaged by the use of a heavy roller "creating low and high areas".
DDCA had re-laid the track last year after the Indian Premier League was moved out of India and agreed to host to Champions League Twenty20 just months later, a blunder felt Atkinson.
"The new grasses planted then were not given adequate time to grow in and establish a resilient deep root structure and when rolling began to prepare the pitches for the IPL Champions League the grass quite unsurprisingly died off as it was too delicate at that time to survive the stresses that were put on it by the act of rolling," he wrote.
"The problems to be overcome for CWC 2011 are fundamental issues of additional correction of the surface levels and ensuring the re-establishment of the correct grass species by replanting the entire pitch block with the most suitable grasses for its long term benefit," he added.
Atkinson said a 20-week corrective work will follow the Indian Premier League this year.
The trial matches would be held between September 1 and November 30. For the next 16 weeks, the ground would be closed for maintenance and preparations of the pitches and the venue.
Atkinson will next come to India on March 15.