Before the 2024 T20 World Cup, Damien Hough, the head groundsman at Adelaide Oval, explained how they’re making the pitch in New York at Eisenhower Park for the India-Pakistan match in the big ICC tournament. He said it’s a bit tricky.
They made six out of ten trays in Adelaide, which are like puzzle pieces that can be taken apart. They’re proud of these trays, and some will be used in Adelaide Oval next year.
Hough confirmed that the pitch in New York’s Eisenhower Park is currently in the “grow-in phase,” meaning they are letting the grass and soil settle and grow. They put these trays in a shipping container and can send them anywhere globally.
In this case, they’ve gone to Florida. Hough spent a month there putting the trays together, adding soil, compacting it, and putting grass on them. Now they’re waiting for the grass to grow.
LandTek, a company in the U.S., is helping with the growth phase. There will be more trips in the next six months to work on the trays, and then they’ll be transported from Florida to New York for final preparations.
Hough admitted that this is the first time he’s gone through this process, and there are a lot of firsts. The real work starts in May, and it’ll take two days to transport the trays to New York. Once there, they’ll be put in the ground.
He mentioned the high-voltage match between India and Pakistan, which will be played in a pop-up stadium in New York with a 34,000-seat capacity. There will be eight games in 10 days, including the exciting clash between Pakistan and India. Additionally, six games will be held in the warm-up venue with many teams rotating and training.
The T20 World Cup fixtures in New York include Sri Lanka vs. South Africa (June 3), India vs. Ireland (June 5), Canada vs. Ireland (June 7), Netherlands vs. South Africa (June 8), India vs. Pakistan (June 9), South Africa vs. Bangladesh (June 10), Pakistan vs. Canada (June 11), and USA vs. India (June 12).
