Greater Noida, Sep 13 Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott said he was disappointed over the one-off Test against New Zealand being abandoned due to rain at Greater Noida, citing the team had trained really well for playing a longer format game.
The inaugural Test between the two teams could never happen as wet outfield and persistent rain played spoilsport at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex. Despite sun shining in the first two days of the match, the outfield was so wet that the toss couldn’t even happen. It has also become just the eighth Test match to be abandoned without a ball being bowled.
"We're disappointed. We'd geared ourselves up, and we'd trained really well. So really disappointed. To try and play a Test match this time of year is always tricky. Personally I was disappointed we were very excited to play against New Zealand and put ourselves up against the challenge of that.
"The thing was we got to train on the square (on) the days before, so we got to see the pitch. The guys were starting to get there; their appetite for the game was growing even more. So heartbreaking not to be able to play," said Trott to reporters after the match was abandoned.
Trott also hoped the abandoned Test in Greater Noida becomes a good learning case for venues in terms of drainage facilities, which were clearly not up to the mark in this situation for the game to happen.
"What I hope it is, it's just a good learning case that things can crop up. Everything has got to be checked out and made sure that it's ready for Test-match cricket. Sometimes we take it for granted when we go and play all these things that have already been done in the past for other nations or other venues - with regards to drainage or ground staff, all those sort of things.
"The ground staff have worked, obviously, very hard here. It just unfortunately hasn't materialised, and we've had a freakish amount of rain for this time of year because that's what I'm being told by the locals. They're probably no better than me."
Trott stated he wanted Afghanistan to grow as a team in the longest format of the game in the same way they have grown in white-ball cricket in recent years, adding that he’s aware of the efforts needed in this direction. "For me, it's a case of making sure that the players are looked after, are able to flourish and grow as a side in this format of the game.”
"We've seen the development in the last two years in the white-ball side of the game. So I'd like to see that progression, and that desire and hunger for it to grow in the same manner. I want to see Afghanistan have the same sort of passion and desire in the red-ball (format) as much as it is in the white-ball formats.
"So it's attainable. But like anything, it's going to take time, and it's going to take a lot of effort. It's going to take a lot of communication between the management, and the players and coaches. If you want to progress, you need to start at the grassroots before you see the benefit of that.
"I don't think enough red-ball cricket is played. But again, it's very new to the format. Facility-wise, it maybe is the issue. I think there certainly isn't a lack of players. People are desperate to play cricket, and so the passion is there.
"It's about now being able to match the passion with the ability to allow the players to enhance and get better at this format of the game. But it's maybe an issue worldwide with regards to red ball - the lure of white-ball cricket, and the glitz and the glamour," he concluded.
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