Following recent revelations as to the state of the AET Pietermaritzburg Oval, KZN Inland Cricket will continue to work closely with Cricket South Africa to rectify The Oval’s outfield following a recent event that forced the cancellation of a match last week.
The KZN Legislature held their state of the province address at the Pietermaritzburg Oval on 27 and 28 February 2024. The décor service provider proceeded to leave pins on the field while removing the décor. KZN Inland commenced the clean-up process from 29 February 2024 with the staff working tirelessly including working throughout the night to try and remove all the pins.
"We put in place as much manpower as we could to get the field into a place where it was playable," CEO of KZN Inland Cricket Jason Sathiaseelan said.
"The clean-up operation by the staff and the acquisition of casual staff has ensured that the majority of these pins were cleared well before the next match at the ground was due to start.
"There have been allegations that a Colts match was cancelled last week due to a player being injured and 'hundreds' of pins being found on the field.
"No player was injured, and this has been confirmed with the standing umpires. The players did find two pins on the field and the umpires took the decision not to continue with the match for the safety of the players.
"It's disappointing for us that we are currently in this situation, but we will be putting in place all measures necessary to get our field back to its pristine playing condition."
Cricket South Africa announced that the remainder of the home matches in the CSA T20 Challenge for the AET Tuskers will take place at alternate venues while the team at the AET Pietermaritzburg Oval and CSA rectify this issue.