LIGHTEN UP!
Cricket chiefs blame players for fiasco over going off early
CRICKET’S governing body yesterday attempted to protect the umpires who brought a premature conclusion to England’s unlikely first-Test victory charge by pinning the bad-light blame firmly on the players.
In a wide- ranging briefing at the International Cricket Council’s Dubai headquarters, chief executive Dave Richardson said it was the reluctance of players from ‘all teams’ to play Test cricket with a red ball under floodlights that led to the farcical scenes in Abu Dhabi that robbed England of a dramatic triumph.
‘There’s no doubt that bad light is one of those issues cricket has been faced with that we’ve never really found a solution to,’ said the former South Africa wicket-keeper.
‘We have attempted to say to players: if you have floodlights and they’re good enough for Test cricket, we should bite the bullet and even if conditions are not as good as they might be, we should play on.
‘That wasn’t accepted by any of the teams. They felt that would be unfair and would lead to unjust finishes.’
How thoroughly players have been canvassed, however, is unclear. There have been no meetings of all Test captains in recent times. Sportsmail understands the issue of bad light and floodlights has not been raised by umpires or the match referee before any England Test series since the farce of The Oval in 2013.
Then, the umpires brought off the teams with England well-placed to win and seal a 4-0 Ashes-series victory, even thoughth h artificialtifi i l li lightsht were i in use. Common sense, it was said then, would prevail in future — only for Australian umpires Paul Reiffel and Bruce Oxenford to halt proceedings on Saturday with England 25 short of their victory target with eight overs to spare.
Richardson is hoping that the pink ball that will be used in cricket’s first day- night Test between Australia and New Zealand in Adelaide next month th will ill shedh d some lightli ht on this gloomy affair.
‘If it stays in decent enough condition and doesn’t change the game too much, we can use it in all Tests,’ said Richardson, who dismissed reports of yellow or green balls being considered.
The thorny issue of chucking was also high on the ICC’s agenda on the day Pakistan added an off- spinner under suspicion — Bilal Asif — to their squad for Thursday’s second Test. Asif was reported for a suspect action during Pakistan’s one-day series in Zimbabwe and was yesterday being tested at the ICC laboratory in Chennai before flying to Dubai to join the Pakistan squad.
Even though Asif is free to play while awaiting results, it is a provocative move by Pakistan and ICC’s cricket general manager Geoff Allardice admitted they are trying to speed up the testing process.
Whether Asif plays remains in doubt because of the return to fitness of Yasir Shah. Azhar Ali, who missed the first Test with a foot injury, could also miss out after returning to Pakistan yesterday following the death of his mother-in-law.
Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar, meanwhile, was last night withdrawn by the ICC from India’s series with South Africa after political extremists threatened to prevent him from officiating the fifth ODI this Sunday.