Can somebody please explain to me what the point of having floodlights is if as soon as they're turned on the players have to come off?
It’s to do with the natural light vs artificial light and the shadows of the players. If it was day 5 it would have carried on. Another day, with tickets sold ‘for charity’. I’m not surprised.
The issue is with the guidelines and the fact that Umpires have no room for variation in that respect. The reading that was taken yesterday (where play probably shouldn't have been stopped) when we were 7 down and it didn't suit us to carry on batting is the one that has to be used as the level for the rest of the game including the situation where now we want them to carry on because the win is in sight.
Can somebody please explain to me what the point of having floodlights is if as soon as they're turned on the players have to come off?
Precisely. I said this earlier today about last nights play.
It seems you can play in coloured clothing, with a pink ball and have 5 ball overs but you can't have some common sense & play out a Test match when everybody in the ground apart from 2 umpires want to.
Time the light issue was taken away from the umpires. Or the precedent that once a light meter reading is taken it's the one used for the rest of the match.
The only time I've seen any sense over the quality of light was the Test we won in Pakistan under Nassar.
Can somebody please explain to me what the point of having floodlights is if as soon as they're turned on the players have to come off?
Precisely. I said this earlier today about last nights play.
It seems you can play in coloured clothing, with a pink ball and have 5 ball overs but you can't have some common sense & play out a Test match when everybody in the ground apart from 2 umpires want to.
Time the light issue was taken away from the umpires. Or the precedent that once a light meter reading is taken it's the one used for the rest of the match.
The only time I've seen any sense over the quality of light was the Test we won in Pakistan under Nassar.
Well isn’t that exactly the precedent they used? We went off the other day - the conditions are now the same as that precedent
Can somebody please explain to me what the point of having floodlights is if as soon as they're turned on the players have to come off?
Precisely. I said this earlier today about last nights play.
It seems you can play in coloured clothing, with a pink ball and have 5 ball overs but you can't have some common sense & play out a Test match when everybody in the ground apart from 2 umpires want to.
Time the light issue was taken away from the umpires. Or the precedent that once a light meter reading is taken it's the one used for the rest of the match.
The only time I've seen any sense over the quality of light was the Test we won in Pakistan under Nassar.
Let's say that we carried on and it took as much as another half an hour or so to knock the runs off. There is one other aspect of this that we are, perhaps ignoring - "bad light" isn't dangerous to batsmen only. Anyone who has played cricket at any level will, hopefully, confirm that once light does deteriorate to a certain level, a deep red ball can actually be really hard to pick out, especially against a dark background, by fielders. Imagine if that pull from Crawley that was dropped by the fielder at midwicket had taken place half an hour or so later in bad light and had hit that fielder straight between the eyes. Then think, when the Umpires are asked to reveal their meter readings, what might happen to them when it is discovered that it had fallen below an acceptable level - they would end up being stood down, sacked or even worse sued.
As I've said above the initial reading when play is first halted is the one that is utilised for consistency of decision making. What I'm not sure about is whether there are (or can be) specified meter levels at which play has to be called off? And if so then perhaps that level might be able to be raised by a notch or two so play can continue in situations where the light isn't dangerous - to batsmen or fielders.
Can somebody please explain to me what the point of having floodlights is if as soon as they're turned on the players have to come off?
All about the umpires. Look at me.
The umpires are only following the rules and they run the risk of a telling off from their bosses if they used their initiative and kept the players out there.
stupid rule that the batsmen aren't offered the light anymore. They would have said no and won the game tonight.
Can somebody please explain to me what the point of having floodlights is if as soon as they're turned on the players have to come off?
All about the umpires. Look at me.
The umpires are only following the rules and they run the risk of a telling off from their bosses if they used their initiative and kept the players out there.
stupid rule that the batsmen aren't offered the light anymore. They would have said no and won the game tonight.
It shouldn't be down to the batsmen as I've suggested above - they have protection but fielders do not.
I agree about it not being the Umpires fault though. In fact, we took 282 minutes to bowl 56.2 overs - that is an average of exactly 12 overs per hour. Had we bowled at the stipulated 15 overs per hour or even 14 overs per hour, there would have been enough time to finish the game tonight.
The umpires were to blame to a large extent IMHO. In everyones opinion in the commentary box the light on Saturday evening was not bad enough to justify suspending play, unfortunately that was of course the reading that had to be applied throughout the remainder of the match. Absurd on both counts!🤨
Atherton has just interviewed the two people responsible for providing the information that is used when looking at those in the frame for England selection.
The chart for keepers by age is interesting because the likes of Bairstow (32), Buttler (31), Billings (30), Foakes (29) is at one end and then there is a void of no one down to just two players - Ollie Robinson (22) and Jamie Smith (21). @cantersaddick will know more about what Smith has to offer but this would suggest that Robinson is very much in the frame and that the likes of Bracey, for example, aren't.
Atherton has just interviewed the two people responsible for providing the information that is used when looking at those in the frame for England selection.
The chart for keepers by age is interesting because the likes of Bairstow (32), Buttler (31), Billings (30), Foakes (29) is at one end and then there is a void of no one down to just two players - Ollie Robinson (22) and Jamie Smith (21). @cantersaddick will know more about what Smith has to offer but this would suggest that Robinson is very much in the frame and that the likes of Bracey, for example, aren't.
robinson is a quality young player, it really is a shame it looks like he's getting released by kent. I remember kent letting go england hopeful and senior member of the squad paul nixon to make way for a certain geriant jones which paid dividends.
Atherton has just interviewed the two people responsible for providing the information that is used when looking at those in the frame for England selection.
The chart for keepers by age is interesting because the likes of Bairstow (32), Buttler (31), Billings (30), Foakes (29) is at one end and then there is a void of no one down to just two players - Ollie Robinson (22) and Jamie Smith (21). @cantersaddick will know more about what Smith has to offer but this would suggest that Robinson is very much in the frame and that the likes of Bracey, for example, aren't.
robinson is a quality young player, it really is a shame it looks like he's getting released by kent. I remember kent letting go england hopeful and senior member of the squad paul nixon to make way for a certain geriant jones which paid dividends.
Just to be clear, he isn't being released by Kent. Far from it - he is still under contract but there is a clause in his contract that allowed him to go a year early if he didn't play a certain number of games. Kent want him to sign another one. It's his choice because he wants to keep and not be the one who has to give way if and when Billings becomes available.
Atherton has just interviewed the two people responsible for providing the information that is used when looking at those in the frame for England selection.
The chart for keepers by age is interesting because the likes of Bairstow (32), Buttler (31), Billings (30), Foakes (29) is at one end and then there is a void of no one down to just two players - Ollie Robinson (22) and Jamie Smith (21). @cantersaddick will know more about what Smith has to offer but this would suggest that Robinson is very much in the frame and that the likes of Bracey, for example, aren't.
robinson is a quality young player, it really is a shame it looks like he's getting released by kent. I remember kent letting go england hopeful and senior member of the squad paul nixon to make way for a certain geriant jones which paid dividends.
Just to be clear, he isn't being released by Kent. Far from it - he is still under contract but there is a clause in his contract that allowed him to go a year early if he didn't play a certain number of games. Kent want him to sign another one. It's his choice because he wants to keep and not be the one who has to give way if and when Billings becomes available.
thank you for the clarification, i did not know this.
Seriously, why is Pope playing a "risk/reward" shot to a quick (risk from the sense of losing his wicket and injury) like that in a Test match where we need half a dozen to win with a day to play?
Well done England. And very well done Zak Crawley, who will end the Summer satisfied that he's contributed to the two wins against South Africa. He won't be certain of his place on the winter tour, but at least he's given himself a platform.
It is a shame that it took Robinson to be dropped by England to sort his fitness and lifestyle issues out but at least the penny has dropped at last. He is a real asset to our bowling attack.
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But umpires at times are utter utter C….
Look at me.
It seems you can play in coloured clothing, with a pink ball and have 5 ball overs but you can't have some common sense & play out a Test match when everybody in the ground apart from 2 umpires want to.
Time the light issue was taken away from the umpires. Or the precedent that once a light meter reading is taken it's the one used for the rest of the match.
The only time I've seen any sense over the quality of light was the Test we won in Pakistan under Nassar.
As I've said above the initial reading when play is first halted is the one that is utilised for consistency of decision making. What I'm not sure about is whether there are (or can be) specified meter levels at which play has to be called off? And if so then perhaps that level might be able to be raised by a notch or two so play can continue in situations where the light isn't dangerous - to batsmen or fielders.
stupid rule that the batsmen aren't offered the light anymore. They would have said no and won the game tonight.
I agree about it not being the Umpires fault though. In fact, we took 282 minutes to bowl 56.2 overs - that is an average of exactly 12 overs per hour. Had we bowled at the stipulated 15 overs per hour or even 14 overs per hour, there would have been enough time to finish the game tonight.
In everyones opinion in the commentary box the light on Saturday evening was not bad enough to justify suspending play, unfortunately that was of course the reading that had to be applied throughout the remainder of the match.
Absurd on both counts!🤨
The chart for keepers by age is interesting because the likes of Bairstow (32), Buttler (31), Billings (30), Foakes (29) is at one end and then there is a void of no one down to just two players - Ollie Robinson (22) and Jamie Smith (21). @cantersaddick will know more about what Smith has to offer but this would suggest that Robinson is very much in the frame and that the likes of Bracey, for example, aren't.
Three Tests lasting 8 days in total says as much about the batting on display from both sides as it does the bowling.