England on Sunday was 3-211 after 45 overs<\/a> against Australia when players were taken off the SCG 15 minutes before the tea break due to bad light.<\/p>\n\u201cOh no! This will cause some angst amongst Test cricket lovers,\u201d Fox Cricket commentator Mark Howard said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLight \u2013 at a ground where there are lights in play and on \u2013 has ceased play.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Despite rain stopping, the first day\u2019s play was officially abandoned at around 5pm (AEDT) \u2013 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.<\/p>\n
England\u2019s 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<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The lack of play left commentators and former players frustrated.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur game shoots itself in the foot time and time and time again. This is no better example of that,\u201c former Australian paceman Jason Gillespie told ABC Sport.<\/p>\n
Ex-Aussie teammate Darren Lehmann added: \u201cThey should be playing, they should\u2019ve been playing half an hour ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got so many people here. It\u2019s just poor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ex-England captain Michael Vaughan declared \u201cthe public were sold short\u201d on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cPretty much from the moment they went off, it was very clear they weren\u2019t going to get back on,\u201d Vaughan told Fox Sports News\u2019 Ashes Daily on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI reckon we missed two hours of play, because conditions did improve and we should\u2019ve seen a lot more cricket.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vaughan suggested cricket officials should investigate whether the ball colour should be changed amid bad light to help play continue.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a great debate about light about whether you can switch the ball colour at that moment to make sure that we stay on,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve said for quite a period of time, when the lights come on and the red ball is not able to be seen \u2013 the players won\u2019t like it \u2013 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?\u201d<\/p>\n
Vaughan later suggested administrators must ensure the Test format is protected regarding the bad light issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cTest cricket has been a problem for a long period of time,\u201d he told Fox Cricket\u2019s The Big Break. \u201cIt\u2019s the one format we keep saying \u2018we want to make sure it survives for the long run\u2019, but it\u2019s the one format that goes off the pitch as quick as you say \u2018get off the pitch\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cT20 cricket, 50-over cricket \u2013 we\u2019d have been playing pretty much all day (on Sunday). But in Test match cricket, whenever there\u2019s a little bit of (bad) light, the lights come on, we find a way of getting off (the ground).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brook pleased with England’s start | 07:31<\/p>\n
Former Australian star batter Mark Waugh said it felt like \u201cwe always look for a reason to get off the ground\u201d in Test cricket.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think as soon as the lights are on, you just play,\u201d he told The Big Break. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to differentiate between \u2018not perfect light\u2019 and \u2018dangerous light\u2019. It seems if it\u2019s not perfect, they go off.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m happy to play with a red ball under lights \u2026 It\u2019s not ideal, but it\u2019s an outdoor sport, so sometimes the light is going to vary.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking on SEN Cricket before play on Day 2, Greenberg said the lack of progression around bad light rules was disappointing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI share your frustration,\u201d Greenberg told SEN Cricket on Monday. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of things that I get frustrated with in cricket but bad light\u2019s one of them. (Sunday), maybe more so than ever with a full house and millions watching on TV.<\/p>\n
\u201cI sort of caution against the remarks of players who said they couldn\u2019t pick the ball up and it was really dark and those sorts of things, but I get frustrated that we don\u2019t have a solution to this problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m always sort of mindful of being critical on issues where I don\u2019t have the solution either, but we\u2019ve got to find a better way in cricket \u2026 where we try not to come off the field when it\u2019s bad light and show a greater willingness and intent to get back on.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t 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\u2019t good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Greenberg reiterated cricket was \u201cin the entertainment business \u2014 and so I can\u2019t think of another business that continues to walk off in front of its fans\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI preface that by saying that it has to be safe for the players, clearly, but we\u2019ve got big light towers here and we\u2019ve got technology, I\u2019m sure there\u2019s a way we can make our way through it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like there was more cricket to be played (on Sunday).\u201d<\/p>\n
Joe Root (72*) and Harry Brook (78*) had previously tamed Australia\u2019s all-pace attack with an unbroken 154-run stand to rescue England and give them the upper hand.<\/p>\n
Despite the rain delay halting the England pair\u2019s momentum, Brook said the umpires made the right call.<\/p>\n
Vettori on spinners at the SCG | 11:30<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, if it wasn\u2019t cloudy, then it probably wouldn\u2019t have been dark. It\u2019s up to the weather, really. I can\u2019t really make a decision on that, and that\u2019s well above me, so I have no comment there,\u201d Brook told reporters.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could hardly see the ball when I was batting at the end. Me and Rooty just said to them it\u2019s so dark out here, the Aussie boys were saying, \u2018Are we going off?\u2019 So, yeah, everybody was pretty much in the same boat.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was dark and then obviously we had that rain, so we were just sat around waiting for it to be called off really.\u201d<\/p>\n
New Zealand legendary spin bowler and Australian assistant coach Daniel Vettori was cautious when asked about the situation post-play.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be careful there. As a former player, I dreamed of rain, so I\u2019m mindful that I don\u2019t change my tune too much,\u201d Vettori told reporters with a smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think when conditions are set fair and it feels like there\u2019s no competitive advantage for either team, it feels like you want to play as much cricket as you can. But we\u2019re also mindful of the rules and regulations \u2013 everything that goes into it, the planning, how hard it is to predict weather.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, look, it\u2019s a tough one. We just abide by the rules in those situations.\u201d<\/p>\n
The second day of play will begin at 10am (AEDT) \u2014 30 minutes earlier than scheduled \u2014 to help make up for the lost overs on Day 1. There\u2019s a small chance of rain forecast on Tuesday, with little to no rain expected for the remaining five days of the Test.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cricket greats have urged the sport\u2019s governing bodies to show more flexibility in Test matches and find a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":354024,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[428,7614,136400,1721,136399,136396,136408,127341,133283,136397,128796,136401,136393,15458,136395,136402,136406,136403,112791,136394,2328,19030,7613,620,7618,116167,7240,136398,136404,101,1288,136405,9984,56,54,55,136407],"class_list":["post-354023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-assistant-coach","tag-cricket","tag-cricket-greats","tag-cricket-lovers","tag-cricket-world","tag-daniel-vettori","tag-darren-lehmann","tag-ended-play","tag-fox-cricket","tag-governing-bodies","tag-jason-gillespie","tag-joe-root","tag-legendary-spin-bowler","tag-light-rule","tag-light-stops-play","tag-lightning-strikes","tag-mark-howard","tag-match-cricket","tag-match-officials","tag-michael-vaughan","tag-new-south-wales","tag-new-zealand","tag-oceania","tag-rain-delay","tag-rain-forecast","tag-rain-stopping","tag-situation-post-play","tag-sports","tag-sydney","tag-tea-break","tag-test-cricket","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-weather-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354023\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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