Cricket fans have expressed their disgust after 30.3 overs of Ashes action at Blundstone Arena were lost to a light drizzle.
Test Cricket sure knows how to shoot themselves in the foot.
The first day of the historic Pink Ball Ashes Test in Hobart ended in ‘pathetic’ circumstances when a light downpour deprived Tasmanian cricket fans of 30.3 overs of action.
Light rain began to fall at Blundstone Arena early in the evening and umpires Rod Tucker and Paul Wilson decided to adjourn play after a brief deliberation.
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Covers were dragged onto the pitch and players returned to the sheds, much to the frustration of fans and broadcasters.
But in quirky scenes, the test match did not continue despite the rain toning down to what can only be described as a light drizzle.
The spectators on the mound did not seek cover as only one umbrella was set up throughout the venue – that of fourth referee Donovan Koch.
Even the rain radar was bone dry, only a few small spots were visible on the map. Weather stations in Hobart’s central business district and at the airport registered a total of 0.0 mm of rain on Friday evening.
Needless to say, the cricket community was unimpressed.
Cricket reporter George Dobell tweeted: “Pathetic. You hardly feel it. Might as well smack viewers in the face and be done with it. You know sometimes I’m not sure if Test cricket deserves to survive. The match officials – really the only people on site using an umbrella – bring the game into disrepute here. We are stupid to endure this.”
Triple M commentator and former Middlesex captain Isabelle Westbury wrote: “The only umbrella on the floor is the fourth umpire in the middle. That’s no exaggeration, I actually can’t see a single other. Cricket doesn’t help itself.”
Former Australian paceman Dirk Nannes tweeted: “Another example of cricket shooting themselves in the foot. The game shouldn’t be down in this drizzle, if you can even call it that. The gutters are still dry. It could be the first rain delay when not a single drop of water flows into the gutter.”
Journalist Ebony Abblitt wrote: “I just stepped outside my house in Hobart…if that’s enough rain for a game delay then we absolutely got ripped off in elementary school during the season.”
Cricket broadcaster Adam Collins tweeted: “There have been some frustrating rain delays during this series but this takes the cake. I can’t understand how they came to the conclusion that it was hard enough to take them off.”
Of course, player safety comes first – Marnus Labuschagne, Stuart Broad and Mark Wood all slid onto the Hobart pitch on opening day.
There were also weather issues at last week’s New Year’s test in Sydney, with multiple rain delays disrupting the first two days of action at the SCG.
Seven overs were lost to a rain stoppage after lunch on day five, which ultimately proved critical – England secured a dismal tie after Australia’s bowlers managed just nine wickets in the fourth inning.
Australia were down on day one of the Hobart Test on 6/241, with wicketkeeper Alex Carey unbeaten on 10 and Mitchell Starc yet to score at the other end.
