All the negatives in this Ashes series boil down to the ICC, from the poor quality of umpires, when they are suppose to be elite and that the best umpires who seem to be largely Aussies and English can not officiate in this series.


All down to the ICC.

Quite.  But remember that Billy Bowden is next on the list. Frankly it would have been far worse IMO had he been officiating. My view is that umpiring hasn't kept up with the professionalisation of other aspects of the game.

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The silly precedent was set a few tests ago - didn't hear too many on here bleating about that.

The silly precedent was set a few tests ago - didn't hear too many on here bleating about that.

a) we all know that 

b) it's the rule that's daft in general

c) this was a particularly drastic example, though - the earlier examples in this series have hardly been in such a tight and enthralling situation

d) if you think this is the time for measured, balanced analysis, then you're way off the mark. 

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I was wondering how Kerrigan felt getting his medal and being at the celebrations? He must have felt uncomfortable, I think I would have.

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CHEATING Convicts. You watching this lehmann???

They're doing what England would do in the same situation. No complaints.

Oh sod off. Since when did you do diplomacy?


F*** you ICC. Another nail in the coffin of test cricket. Everyone in the game knows there should be a common sense rule in the game. Bollox.

Oh dear Matty. Not a happy bunny...

Maybe the ICC should vary the rule when you've got floodlights available. But you've been to floodlit football and will know that floodlights don't make it perfect - and a cricket field is much larger and the ball is much smaller.

That is the key issue IMO. If what happened this evening had been during the pre-floodlit cricket era, then I think there would have been fewer grounds for criticism of the decision, but surely these days with floodlights (at some grounds at least, The Oval being one), surely some leeway could be given to allow the game to continue on for a bit longer than would have been possible without floodlights. I know that floodlights don't solve all the issues re bad light, but surely they are of at least some help in situations like we saw tonight.

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The silly precedent was set a few tests ago - didn't hear too many on here bleating about that.

a) we all know that 

b) it's the rule that's daft in general

c) this was a particularly drastic example, though - the earlier examples in this series have hardly been in such a tight and enthralling situation

d) if you think this is the time for measured, balanced analysis, then you're way off the mark. 

Haha... They were kind of hamstrung to repeat the stupidity, I guess...

I was wondering how Kerrigan felt getting his medal and being at the celebrations? He must have felt uncomfortable, I think I would have.

Collingwood 2005...

Is a ball bowled faster in a test than a day/night match?

In a Day/Night match they use a WHITE cricket ball.

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Is a ball bowled faster in a test than a day/night match?

In a Day/Night match they use a WHITE cricket ball.

Yes I pointed that out several posts ago. Do keep up.

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Is a ball bowled faster in a test than a day/night match?

In a Day/Night match they use a WHITE cricket ball.

Yes I pointed that out several posts ago. Do keep up.

I didn't realise you were that knowledgeable having seen your criticism of the umpiring, Brian.....

;-)

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Perhaps the best resolution to the type of situation that we saw tonight would be if the ICC ditched the traditional all-white cricket shirts & trousers and red ball and reverted to coloured outfits and a white ball all the time. Then at least they would have a ball that would be easier seen when it's getting dark!

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Perhaps the best resolution to the type of situation that we saw tonight would be if the ICC ditched the traditional all-white cricket shirts & trousers and red ball and reverted to coloured outfits and a white ball all the time. Then at least they would have a ball that would be easier seen when it's getting dark!

Heaven forbid. The white ball doesn't even last 50 overs, imagine having to use it for 85!

Actually a pink ball might work but they're still not as good as the red variety.

These situations hardly ever arise. I can only think of one other and that was in Pakistan years ago. Common sense says you don't tinker with the laws/rules to deal with very rare issues.

If they have to react then a simple change to give the batsman the option to continue would suffice. An earlier start would help but doesn't guarantee that the light won't fail.

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Actually a pink ball might work but they're still not as good as the red variety.

Watched that drama about Kerry Packer a few weeks ago - had a scene where they were experimenting with different coloured balls under the floodlights to see which one looked best on camera.

Just thought I'd share...

 

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Perhaps the best resolution to the type of situation that we saw tonight would be if the ICC ditched the traditional all-white cricket shirts & trousers and red ball and reverted to coloured outfits and a white ball all the time. Then at least they would have a ball that would be easier seen when it's getting dark!

Heaven forbid. The white ball doesn't even last 50 overs, imagine having to use it for 85!

Actually a pink ball might work but they're still not as good as the red variety.

These situations hardly ever arise. I can only think of one other and that was in Pakistan years ago. Common sense says you don't tinker with the laws/rules to deal with very rare issues.

If they have to react then a simple change to give the batsman the option to continue would suffice. An earlier start would help but doesn't guarantee that the light won't fail.

Can't disagree with any of that, Peter.

Earlier tonight Marcus (Gooner) mentioned that at the time the match was stopped, there were only 4 overs left to play. Like Marcus, I would have understood the reasoning for stopping it at that point had there been many more overs still to play, but with as little as 4 overs I would have thought the best thing to do would have been to have seen it out. It's the spectators who paid a lot of their hard-earned money to get in and see the match that I feel sorry for the most here. That said, I'm not sure how many balls/deliveries make up an over or how the beginning & end of an over is marked.

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Perhaps the best resolution to the type of situation that we saw tonight would be if the ICC ditched the traditional all-white cricket shirts & trousers and red ball and reverted to coloured outfits and a white ball all the time. Then at least they would have a ball that would be easier seen when it's getting dark!

Heaven forbid. The white ball doesn't even last 50 overs, imagine having to use it for 85!

Actually a pink ball might work but they're still not as good as the red variety.

These situations hardly ever arise. I can only think of one other and that was in Pakistan years ago. Common sense says you don't tinker with the laws/rules to deal with very rare issues.

If they have to react then a simple change to give the batsman the option to continue would suffice. An earlier start would help but doesn't guarantee that the light won't fail.

Can't disagree with any of that, Peter.

Earlier tonight Marcus (Gooner) mentioned that at the time the match was stopped, there were only 4 overs left to play. Like Marcus, I would have understood the reasoning for stopping it at that point had there been many more overs still to play, but with as little as 4 overs I would have thought the best thing to do would have been to have seen it out. It's the spectators who paid a lot of their hard-earned money to get in and see the match that I feel sorry for the most here. That said, I'm not sure how many balls/deliveries make up an over or how the beginning & end of an over is marked.

6 balls in an over. 

We're taking about another 15 minutes of playing time at most.

And that's the point.   It wasn't like there was a long time to go or that there would be any noticeable deterioration in the light over that time period (bearing in mind the drop in light level was simply due to the setting sun, under clear skies).

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Perhaps the best resolution to the type of situation that we saw tonight would be if the ICC ditched the traditional all-white cricket shirts & trousers and red ball and reverted to coloured outfits and a white ball all the time. Then at least they would have a ball that would be easier seen when it's getting dark!

Heaven forbid. The white ball doesn't even last 50 overs, imagine having to use it for 85!

Actually a pink ball might work but they're still not as good as the red variety.

These situations hardly ever arise. I can only think of one other and that was in Pakistan years ago. Common sense says you don't tinker with the laws/rules to deal with very rare issues.

If they have to react then a simple change to give the batsman the option to continue would suffice. An earlier start would help but doesn't guarantee that the light won't fail.

Can't disagree with any of that, Peter.

Earlier tonight Marcus (Gooner) mentioned that at the time the match was stopped, there were only 4 overs left to play. Like Marcus, I would have understood the reasoning for stopping it at that point had there been many more overs still to play, but with as little as 4 overs I would have thought the best thing to do would have been to have seen it out. It's the spectators who paid a lot of their hard-earned money to get in and see the match that I feel sorry for the most here. That said, I'm not sure how many balls/deliveries make up an over or how the beginning & end of an over is marked.

Four overs, at the rate the Aussies were bowling, would have taken another 20 minutes. If another wicket had fallen then add another two minutes for that. If the decision had been reviewed add another 2 minutes. It could have been 7.55 or later by the end - and every chance that the match would have gone to the wire.

The spectators saw the highest number of runs seen in one day's play in a Test match - so they reported. That's fantastic value even if the ending wasn't what was wanted.

To be fair, if the Aussies had been batting I suspect the crowd would have carrying the umpires from the field in celebration....

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Perhaps the best resolution to the type of situation that we saw tonight would be if the ICC ditched the traditional all-white cricket shirts & trousers and red ball and reverted to coloured outfits and a white ball all the time. Then at least they would have a ball that would be easier seen when it's getting dark!

Heaven forbid. The white ball doesn't even last 50 overs, imagine having to use it for 85!

Actually a pink ball might work but they're still not as good as the red variety.

These situations hardly ever arise. I can only think of one other and that was in Pakistan years ago. Common sense says you don't tinker with the laws/rules to deal with very rare issues.

If they have to react then a simple change to give the batsman the option to continue would suffice. An earlier start would help but doesn't guarantee that the light won't fail.

Can't disagree with any of that, Peter.

Earlier tonight Marcus (Gooner) mentioned that at the time the match was stopped, there were only 4 overs left to play. Like Marcus, I would have understood the reasoning for stopping it at that point had there been many more overs still to play, but with as little as 4 overs I would have thought the best thing to do would have been to have seen it out. It's the spectators who paid a lot of their hard-earned money to get in and see the match that I feel sorry for the most here. That said, I'm not sure how many balls/deliveries make up an over or how the beginning & end of an over is marked.

6 balls in an over. 

We're taking about another 15 minutes of playing time at most.

And that's the point.   It wasn't like there was a long time to go or that there would be any noticeable deterioration in the light over that time period (bearing in mind the drop in light level was simply due to the setting sun, under clear skies).

No Andy, they don't bowl overs in under 4 minutes in Test cricket. In that match situation with changes in field placings and conferences with the bowlers etc. much nearer 5 - or more.

As you say, the light was deteriorating with every passing minute because it wasn't about cloud cover but the setting sun and shadows.

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Perhaps the best resolution to the type of situation that we saw tonight would be if the ICC ditched the traditional all-white cricket shirts & trousers and red ball and reverted to coloured outfits and a white ball all the time. Then at least they would have a ball that would be easier seen when it's getting dark!

Heaven forbid. The white ball doesn't even last 50 overs, imagine having to use it for 85!

Actually a pink ball might work but they're still not as good as the red variety.

These situations hardly ever arise. I can only think of one other and that was in Pakistan years ago. Common sense says you don't tinker with the laws/rules to deal with very rare issues.

If they have to react then a simple change to give the batsman the option to continue would suffice. An earlier start would help but doesn't guarantee that the light won't fail.

Can't disagree with any of that, Peter.

Earlier tonight Marcus (Gooner) mentioned that at the time the match was stopped, there were only 4 overs left to play. Like Marcus, I would have understood the reasoning for stopping it at that point had there been many more overs still to play, but with as little as 4 overs I would have thought the best thing to do would have been to have seen it out. It's the spectators who paid a lot of their hard-earned money to get in and see the match that I feel sorry for the most here. That said, I'm not sure how many balls/deliveries make up an over or how the beginning & end of an over is marked.

6 balls in an over. 

We're taking about another 15 minutes of playing time at most.

And that's the point.   It wasn't like there was a long time to go or that there would be any noticeable deterioration in the light over that time period (bearing in mind the drop in light level was simply due to the setting sun, under clear skies).

No Andy, they don't bowl overs in under 4 minutes in Test cricket. In that match situation with changes in field placings and conferences with the bowlers etc. much nearer 5 - or more.

As you say, the light was deteriorating with every passing minute because it wasn't about cloud cover but the setting sun and shadows.

I guess that with the schedule that was used for the five tests for this series covering a period of 7 weeks (I think) with the first test being back in mid-July, had the series started in June and been concluded before the end of July, the situation that arose tonight would probably have been avoided had the final test taken place last month as the days are noticeably longer at that point in the summer. That said, I remember watching the Ashes series of 1993 and 1997 on the BBC and from memory, back then it started with the first test in early June and the final test (I think there were 6 tests in both of those series) in mid-late August. I think is I was on either team, I would have preferred the schedule they had in '93 and '97 as it allowed more recovery time between the tests.

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Aggers

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/23837976 

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Someone has pressed Clarke's reset button. Apparently he's confident of regaining the Ashes in the coming series 😂 😂

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