Cricket greats have urged the sport’s governing bodies to show more flexibility in Test matches and find a better balance between adhering to player safety while ensuring huge crowds are entertained.
It comes as Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg declared he shared the frustration of cricket fans, suggesting “there was more cricket to be played” on day one of the fifth Ashes Test.
Watch The Ashes 2025/26 LIVE and ad-break free during play with FOX CRICKET on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.
England on Sunday was 3-211 after 45 overs against Australia when players were taken off the SCG 15 minutes before the tea break due to bad light.
“Oh no! This will cause some angst amongst Test cricket lovers,” Fox Cricket commentator Mark Howard said.
“Light – at a ground where there are lights in play and on – has ceased play.”
The start of the third session was then delayed by subsequent rain and lightning in the vicinity, with play unable to recommence until at least 30 minutes after the most recent lightning strikes.
Despite rain stopping, the first day’s play was officially abandoned at around 5pm (AEDT) – 30 minutes before the scheduled close. The move was met with a chorus of boos from the Sydney crowd of 49,574, which was the highest attendance for a day of Test cricket at the SCG in four decades. Some fans had begun queuing for their Day 1 seats at 6pm the night before.
England’s Joe Root and Harry Brook walk off the ground with Australian players as bad light stops play on day one of the fifth Ashes Test. Picture: DAVID GRAY / AFPSource: AFP
The covers went on the ground at 3pm and were never removed. That was despite long periods of no rain at all, with ground staff seemingly fearful of the potential of more rain, and match officials unwilling to try and get the game going.
The lack of play left commentators and former players frustrated.
“Our game shoots itself in the foot time and time and time again. This is no better example of that,“ former Australian paceman Jason Gillespie told ABC Sport.
Ex-Aussie teammate Darren Lehmann added: “They should be playing, they should’ve been playing half an hour ago.
“You’ve got so many people here. It’s just poor.”
Ex-England captain Michael Vaughan declared “the public were sold short” on Sunday.
“Pretty much from the moment they went off, it was very clear they weren’t going to get back on,” Vaughan told Fox Sports News’ Ashes Daily on Monday.
“I reckon we missed two hours of play, because conditions did improve and we should’ve seen a lot more cricket.”
Vaughan suggested cricket officials should investigate whether the ball colour should be changed amid bad light to help play continue.
“There’s a great debate about light about whether you can switch the ball colour at that moment to make sure that we stay on,” he said.
“I’ve said for quite a period of time, when the lights come on and the red ball is not able to be seen – the players won’t like it – but turn to a pink ball for that period. We play a pink ball game, so why not turn to a pink ball to make sure the players stay on the pitch?”
Vaughan later suggested administrators must ensure the Test format is protected regarding the bad light issue.
“Test cricket has been a problem for a long period of time,” he told Fox Cricket’s The Big Break. “It’s the one format we keep saying ‘we want to make sure it survives for the long run’, but it’s the one format that goes off the pitch as quick as you say ‘get off the pitch’.
“T20 cricket, 50-over cricket – we’d have been playing pretty much all day (on Sunday). But in Test match cricket, whenever there’s a little bit of (bad) light, the lights come on, we find a way of getting off (the ground).
“We do everything we possibly can in T20 cricket and ODI cricket to stay on the park. We do everything we possibly can in Test cricket to get off the park.”
Brook pleased with England’s start | 07:31
Former Australian star batter Mark Waugh said it felt like “we always look for a reason to get off the ground” in Test cricket.
“I think as soon as the lights are on, you just play,” he told The Big Break. “You’ve got to differentiate between ‘not perfect light’ and ‘dangerous light’. It seems if it’s not perfect, they go off.
“I’m happy to play with a red ball under lights … It’s not ideal, but it’s an outdoor sport, so sometimes the light is going to vary.”
Speaking on SEN Cricket before play on Day 2, Greenberg said the lack of progression around bad light rules was disappointing.
“I share your frustration,” Greenberg told SEN Cricket on Monday. “There’s a lot of things that I get frustrated with in cricket but bad light’s one of them. (Sunday), maybe more so than ever with a full house and millions watching on TV.
“I sort of caution against the remarks of players who said they couldn’t pick the ball up and it was really dark and those sorts of things, but I get frustrated that we don’t have a solution to this problem.
“I’m always sort of mindful of being critical on issues where I don’t have the solution either, but we’ve got to find a better way in cricket … where we try not to come off the field when it’s bad light and show a greater willingness and intent to get back on.
“I don’t have the answer for you this morning, but what you can take from my comments is a desire to push at the global level of how we get better at these things, because it felt like it wasn’t good enough.”
Greenberg reiterated cricket was “in the entertainment business — and so I can’t think of another business that continues to walk off in front of its fans”.
“I preface that by saying that it has to be safe for the players, clearly, but we’ve got big light towers here and we’ve got technology, I’m sure there’s a way we can make our way through it,” he said.
“I felt like there was more cricket to be played (on Sunday).”
Joe Root (72*) and Harry Brook (78*) had previously tamed Australia’s all-pace attack with an unbroken 154-run stand to rescue England and give them the upper hand.
Despite the rain delay halting the England pair’s momentum, Brook said the umpires made the right call.
Vettori on spinners at the SCG | 11:30
“Well, if it wasn’t cloudy, then it probably wouldn’t have been dark. It’s up to the weather, really. I can’t really make a decision on that, and that’s well above me, so I have no comment there,” Brook told reporters.
“I could hardly see the ball when I was batting at the end. Me and Rooty just said to them it’s so dark out here, the Aussie boys were saying, ‘Are we going off?’ So, yeah, everybody was pretty much in the same boat.
“It was dark and then obviously we had that rain, so we were just sat around waiting for it to be called off really.”
New Zealand legendary spin bowler and Australian assistant coach Daniel Vettori was cautious when asked about the situation post-play.
“I’ll be careful there. As a former player, I dreamed of rain, so I’m mindful that I don’t change my tune too much,” Vettori told reporters with a smile.
“I think when conditions are set fair and it feels like there’s no competitive advantage for either team, it feels like you want to play as much cricket as you can. But we’re also mindful of the rules and regulations – everything that goes into it, the planning, how hard it is to predict weather.
“So, look, it’s a tough one. We just abide by the rules in those situations.”
The second day of play will begin at 10am (AEDT) — 30 minutes earlier than scheduled — to help make up for the lost overs on Day 1. There’s a small chance of rain forecast on Tuesday, with little to no rain expected for the remaining five days of the Test.