England's Ashes washout must prompt cricket to finally address weather woes

It was not the grand finale this riveting series deserved, after Australia retained the Ashes following a last day washout at Old Trafford. But cricket’s major vulnerability is its lack of weatherproofing, something that needs to be examined as climate change threatens to rain on more of the game’s big parades.

Before that, let’s consider the state of play. Sport is littered with lucky wins over deserving ones and this very much feels like a fortunate one for Pat Cummins’ side – which makes the final match at the Kia Oval a vital determinant for both teams even if the main prize has gone.

If the visitors prevail they will be the first Australian side to win a series here for 22 years, a result that will make them worthy holders of the urn. But if England win to level the series, they and the world will know (including Australia) that but for some rain in Manchester, the Ashes would have been regained from the improbable position of 0-2 down, something achieved just once in the last 140 years.

Momentum is a word beloved of coaches and sports psychologists but it would be churlish not to think that England have it going into Thursday’s fifth Test. Australia were being crushed as never before at Old Trafford on the back of England’s impressive win at Headingley. It was utter carnage and I cannot recall a similar occasion when an Australia team, and let’s be clear these are the World Test Champions, looked so hapless as 592 runs were racked up in 107.4 overs. They were not so much Baggy Green as Liz Truss’s limp lettuce, an unusual and disorienting situation for them.

There have been suggestions that Ben Stokes should have declared England’s innings sooner on the basis of the poor weather forecasts, but losing most of the last two days to rain is pretty rare even in Manchester. Something of a mixed blessing for England has been the benign pitches so far ordered for the series. On the one hand they have allowed batsmen to make merry and score at eye-watering speed, but they have made it harder work for England’s seam bowlers who might have dismissed their opponents more quickly on grassier surfaces, though that would have made run-scoring more tricky.

The Aussies will feel they probably deserved the break rain handed them last weekend. Having won all four tosses, England have certainly had the best of the conditions, though any advantage has either been marginal or, as in the first two Tests, squandered by an overzealous application of Bazball.

England have also benefitted from injury to Nathan Lyon, the off-spinner being an integral part of Australia’s attack. Without him, the visitors have become one-dimensional and there is nothing attacking batsmen like more than predictability.

Despite the compelling drama there is no escaping the slump, felt nationwide, that has accompanied the rain-affected draw at Old Trafford, the first drawn Test of the Stokes era.

Preventing inclement weather ruining matches has been cricket’s challenge for decades, though decisive cures remain elusive. The bold remedy would be to have a roof, as at Melbourne’s Docklands stadium, which opened in 2000. International cricket has been played there but not extensively. Instead it is used mostly for Australian Rules football and the odd T20 Big Bash game. The roof takes two hours to close fully, which is not ideal, and cricket balls have been known to strike it when shut.

Feasibility studies for roofs have been done at existing venues in England but the expense and impracticality means they remain theoretical. A 15-acre roof (the size needed to cover Lord’s) needs to be light enough to be moved into place quickly, but sturdy enough to support rain trebling its weight. Also, the retrofit needed at Lord’s, with its many stands, means costs would be prohibitive with one source suggesting it would exceed £1billion.

Saving time within the game could help fit more cricket into a day’s play, but that would not stop rain or bad light from interfering – just reduce its effects. Currently, Test cricket is a serial offender in such matters and the International Cricket Council should undertake a review as a matter of priority.

Efficiencies can be found everywhere as a study last year by MCC revealed. They discovered that, on average, Test cricket wasted 31.5 minutes a day (or eight overs at expected rates) when compared to County Championship cricket, hardly a paragon of good time-keeping itself.

Just the changeover at the end of an over took 10-15 seconds longer in Tests where the quickest measured was 34 seconds. Generally, though, it took 55 seconds (45 seconds in County Cricket) from the last ball of one over to the first ball of the next, and for no good reason other than a lack of urgency.

That adds up over a day, as do equipment changes, Decision Reviews, ball changes, sight screen moves etc. If it was down to me I’d ban all glove changes except at official drinks breaks and all extra drinks for batsmen, bowlers or fielders except at scheduled times. Obviously common sense would prevail if it was extremely hot, and more drinks would be allowed, but there needs to be more done to prevent the farcical situation which occurred when Rory Burns was dismissed first ball of the last Ashes series and Australia’s 12th men ran on with drinks for all. After one ball.

Adding any time lost to the start or end of the next day is another solution to making up lost ground but there are impediments. In England making earlier starts was discouraged due to morning dew on the pitch and the advantage that would hand bowlers. Still, that has not stopped County games in September starting 30 minutes earlier at 10.30am.

Any objection to shifting timings is more likely to come from broadcasters, who pay the big money, than any concession to fairness. For some, messing with schedules is a red line that cannot be crossed which is one of the reasons Channel Four, the last terrestrial channel to hold TV rights for cricket, stopped bidding for them after the fluctuating hours messed with their flagship news programme.

There is plenty that can be done to inject more time into a day’s play and yet Old Trafford would not have been the disappointing anti-climax it was had England been a bit more measured in their approach over the first two Tests of the series, which they lost.

When asked about it Stokes made it plain that he and his team don’t do regrets. Maybe not, but you don’t give a team as good as Australia a 2-0 start and there not to be consequences, rain or not.

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