Fingers crossed for a break in rainy season

England captain Eoin Morgan was left crossing his fingers for kinder weather after the first one-day international against Sri Lanka was washed out in Dambulla yesterday.

Eyebrows have been raised at the decision to schedule the series before the end of the island’s rainy season – with tour operators in the region typically advising against holiday in October due to the weather.

One of the two scheduled warm-up games in Colombo last week was abandoned without a ball bowled and although initial forecasts were better for the series opener, just 15 overs were possible with England reaching 92 for two.

The extensive ground covers were summoned before the rain even arrived in a vain attempt to protect the pitch but after more than three hours of solid, heavy downpour the groundstaff’s salvage operation was rendered moot.

The sides will meet again at the same venue on Saturday, one of two fixtures in the five-match series to have the safety net of a reserve day.

“It’s extremely frustrating, especially when the umpires made a really good decision to get the covers on before the rain actually started,” said Morgan, who was 14 not out when the players left the field.

“When it rains here it just doesn’t stop for hours. They did their best but unfortunately when they were taking the covers off there was a lot of overflow and three or four areas of concern that were very muddy.

“When it gets to that stage player safety is paramount and I think the umpires made the right call. I think it’s going to be that type of series.

“There was no rain forecast for today which is devastating. We are keen to get ourselves into the series and get going and playing but hopefully we will have a bit of luck along the way with the weather.”

Asked if he was party to the logic behind the England and Wales Cricket Board’s scheduling, Morgan replied “I haven’t a clue” but held out hope of better fortunes.