Dubai: Australia, a strong contender for the ICC Champions Trophy, is in danger of not qualifying for the semi-final as they have been stumped twice by rain in the ongoing tournament. Though they have played good cricket, they could garner only two points from two matches.
With more rain predicted in England, a debate has already ensued over whether the rain factor should be looked into seriously before allotting a tournament to any country.
England weather has always a reputation of being unpredictable. Rain has often stopped matches midway in the past but very often those matches could be resumed and completed. Many feel that to allot the Champions Trophy to England in June when it does rain was a mistake. The rainfall patterns around the world have undergone changes due to global warming and hence it’s time the International Cricket Council (ICC) worked out plans to protect their high profile tournaments from rain. Incidentally, the ICC 2019 World Cup is also scheduled to be held in England.
It’s time authorities thought about the possibilities of installing retractable roof in at least the top cricket venues. Wimbledon has fixed the retractable roof on centre court to ensure uninterrupted play during the grand slam event. The Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia and Yorkshire’s Headingley ground too have retractable roofing system. To fix a retractable roof for a big cricket stadium is extremely costly when compared to the roof over a tennis court. Bowlers and administrators fear that a covered stadium will affect the swing bowling. For batsmen like Chris Gayle, who hit high, the roof cannot be high enough.
The organisers being allowed to fix the number of overs according to the weather prediction could be another method. It’s time that teams agree to play 20 overs-a-side match prior to start in case of rain threat instead of having to share one point each.
In the 2002 Champions Trophy final, after rain stopped play, instead of continuing from where it ended as per the tournament rules, a fresh contest was held the next day. Thus, despite 110 overs being played, there was no result and both Indian and Sri Lanka were declared joint winners.
Sachin Tendulkar’s suggestion of having two innings in a One-day International should also be considered. A match being split into four innings of 25 each would help if rain stops play, as the team which had taken the lead in the first innings can be declared the winner.
It is a fact that rain is bound to hit matches and tournaments more than in the past. As ICC allocates the major tournaments to a particular country nearly four years before the event, they will not be able to correctly predict the rain pattern of that country. Innovative ways to counter rain threat has to be worked out than declare a tournament or a match as complete washout.