Damp weather has played spoilsport and three World Cup games have concluded with a no-result. There have been whispers about the need for reserve days even for the round-robin league fixtures but the International Cricket Council’s chief executive Dave Richardson, through a statement, clarified that logistically it is impossible.
“Factoring in a reserve day for every match at the ICC men’s cricket World Cup would significantly increase the length of the tournament and practically would be extremely complex to deliver. It would impact pitch preparation, team recovery and travel days, accommodation and venue availability, tournament staffing, volunteer and match officials’ availability, broadcast logistics and very importantly the spectators who in some instances have travelled hours to be at the game. There is also no guarantee that the reserve day would be free from rain either,” Richardson wrote.
Unexpected rains
He explained that there are reserve days for the knockout games and blamed unexpected rains as the cause of the tournament’s current predicament: “This is extremely unseasonable weather.
“In the last couple of days we have experienced more than twice the average monthly rainfall for June which is usually the third driest month in the UK.
“In 2018 there was just 2mm of rain in June but the last 24 hours alone has seen around 100mm.”
