BUMBLE AT THE TEST: Cricket fans have been robbed of a grand finale
BUMBLE AT THE TEST: Cricket fans have been robbed of a grand finale after the washout at Old Trafford… if we have less than 30 overs in a day, we should have a reserve day
- Australia have retained the ashes after rain forced the end of play at Old Trafford
- The fourth Test was subsequently called a draw, robbing fans of the grand finale
- England and Australia will play the final Test at the Oval later this week
I must say that I was very surprised when the umpires didn’t allow Ben Stokes to use his pace bowlers on Saturday because of the light and so to stay on the field, England were forced to bowl spinners for 12 overs before the rain arrived at 5pm.
Quite simply, England were handicapped by not getting to bowl who they wanted. It seems a false game when you can’t actually bowl your best bowlers.
The two umpires – Nitin Menon and Joel Wilson – are from overseas and it might not be important but Wilson actually had dark sunglasses on, which was bizarre. In indifferent light with dark glasses, obviously it’s going to look dark Joel!
And they will most definitely not be familiar with the area and conditions here.
Australia have retained the Ashes after the fourth Test at Old Trafford was called a draw
Rain at Old Trafford meant the match was a washout and denied fans of a potential epic finish to the series at the Oval
The draw has also posed the question that Cricket’s governing bodies need to re-think the logistics around hosting Test matches by employing reserve days if the weather takes a turn
Having played at Old Trafford for 20 years and spent much of my life in the city, it was quite a normal day in Manchester. Yes – it rained but once it cleared, it was overcast and fine to play cricket in.
Was the light that bad? You come back to the question of whether it was dangerous? It most certainly was not. It was normal. And the Australia players would admit that too.
Plenty of great fast bowlers like Michael Holding, Andy Roberts and Sylvester Clark have played here in that kind of light.
If you were coming off in those days because it was a bit cloudy, you would be hard-pressed to play at all because it’s normal to have days like that in these parts.
Other suggestions have been made that the first ball should be bowled earlier than the usual 11am start time while play should go on for longer if there is enough light
England have now unfortunately missed out on a chance to re-claim the urn, but can still draw the series with a win in London next week
In those 12 overs, someone like Wood could have cleaned up and we would have been going into a deciding Test that this series deserves.
If we lose a full day’s play or have less than 30 overs in a day, we should have a reserve day.
Having worked in TV, I know they’ll all come back and say it’s logistics and a nightmare with hotels and all that, but the frank truth is that we have now been robbed of a grand occasion at The Oval.
A word for Joe Root though. He said on Sunday that because it doesn’t get dark till 10pm here in the summer, we should keep playing until all the overs have been bowled. Rooty, you are talking rubbish. That’s pub time son!
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