http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AN-Cook-c1026 lauds Rose Bowl staff – Cricket News Update
England’s One-day captain, Alastair Cook, has heaped special praise on the Rose Bowl staff for the making second ODI against India possible despite heavy showers at Southampton.
The conditions were not suitable for play at the Rose Bowl since there was water all round in the ground due to heavy rain. However, the grounds-men did a fantastic job and made things appropriate for the play within a couple of hours once the rain stopped.
As a result of relentless efforts of the ground-staff, the match officials could manage to start the show. Yet, the game was eventually reduced to 23 overs each side.
Admitting the fact that it was not an easy task to make things suitable for the players to come out, Cook paid tribute to head grounds-man, Nigel Gray and his crew for their overwork.
“First of all, we have to thank the ground staff. The weather didn’t look great but the ground staff did a fantastic job to get the pitch ready as quickly as they did. They put a lot of effort in, the drainage was good and it proved it was certainly the
right decision to get the game on,” said Cook who collected unbeaten 80 and led his side to a convincing five-wicket glory in the second ODI.
The opening ODI had already been abandoned due to unfriendly weather at Chester-le-Street. Hence, the two sides were desperate to play some cricket and take 1-0 lead in the competition.
While appreciating the grounds-staff for their outstanding job, the English captain did not forget to give full credit to the curator for preparing such a fabulous track.
“The pitch had been under the covers all day, there had been rain about and it was cloudy. But after the first couple of overs, we realised it wasn’t doing anything so we had to hang in there. It was an amazing effort to get it ready and it was a great game
of cricket,” added the 26-year-old left-handed batsman who is aiming to clean-sweep the ODI series.
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