Greater Noida (Uttar Pradesh): The one-off Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand was called off without a ball being bowled here on Friday. This was Afghanistan's 10 Test since they received Test status from the International Cricket Council (ICC). The Test however was not part of the World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle.
Afghanistan Cricket Board was the host of the Test and after all the first four days were washed out, the fifth day too was washed out and the Test was called off. ACB in a post on X stated, "The highly anticipated #AFGvNZ Test match was called off without a ball being bowled due to persistent rains in Greater Noida."
"While the inaugural #AFGvNZ Test didn’t proceed as expected, #AfghanAtalan look forward to engaging in more bilateral cricket with @BLACKCAPS in future," the ACB added. This was the inaugural Test between the two countries.
The last Test which was abandoned without a ball being bowled also involved New Zealand and it was against India in Dunedin way back in 1998. The BCCI did not have any role to play in this entire Game and neither did the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association.
This was the 8th Test in the history of the game that was abandoned without a bowl being bowled. Disappointed and frustrated after rain forced their one-off Test to be abandoned without any play, head coaches of Afghanistan and New Zealand on Friday said only inclement weather was to be blamed for the fiasco as scheduling a match during monsoon season is "always tricky".
"We were very excited to play against New Zealand and put ourselves up against the challenge of that," Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott said at a joint press conference with his New Zealand counterpart Gary Stead.
"Unfortunately, the weather has played its part and it's made it difficult for us to get a game and we're very disappointed. To try and play a Test match at this time of year (monsoon) is always tricky. "(In terms of facilities) obviously disappointed that we haven't been able to play as the amount of water that's come down is unprecedented for this time of year," he added.
Stead said the BlackCaps were also frustrated as they were looking at this fixture as a preparation for the upcoming World Test Championship series against Sri Lanka and India.
"It's frustrating for us. It was our first Test against Afghanistan and we were really excited about that as well. They've been great competitors of ours over the last few World Cups as well."
