Time lost should be made up

There is nothing more frustrating for a cricket player than sitting around the dressing room waiting for play to start. The first day of ...

There is nothing more frustrating for a cricket player than sitting around the dressing room waiting for play to start. The first day of the first Test here on Friday was abandoned without a ball being bowled, due to low cloud cover, bad light and a persistent drizzle.Most of the New Zealand players spent the day doing the usual things, looking at the sky for a possible weather change, playing cards, checking their equipment for the tenth time, signing autographs, drinking fifteen cups of tea, reading, doing crossword puzzles, sleeping and, when possible, kicking a football around outside.

The Indian players may have done some of those things but I was delighted to see them playing indoor cricket in the players8217; area under the main stand with a tennis ball and involve some of the kids with batting bowling drills. It would be every youngster8217;s dream to bowl to Sachin Tendulkar or to bat against Anil Kumble. Even my son Matthew 14, who bowls left-arm spin, had the opportunity to do that with today8217;ssuperstars. This was a wonderful gesture from the tourists.

From the players8217; point of view, all you want to do is get out in the middle and play. A lot of nervous energy would have been spent of the first day because no one knew what was going to happen. If any other day had been washed out, the players would know whether they would be batting or bowling and they can prepare accordingly. For someone like Test debutant Matthew Bell, he can only reflect on what might have been on Day One. Now he has to go through the whole mental process again.

The game needs to be played over a maximum of five days or a minimum of 450 overs. While a result can still be achieved in this match in four days, the time lost should be made up on the remaining days available.

The current law allows for an extra hour to be added to the same day8217;s play if time is lost, but I like what I saw happening in Australia during the Ashes series. The ICC has allowed an experimental law to apply provided both teams or countries agree. Iftime is lost during a day8217;s play, an extra hour can be added to any of the remaining days to make up for the lost time. The possibility that play could conceivably start an hour earlier or finish an hour later, on any of the other days, is sensible when public interest in Test matches appears to be lacking in New Zealand and perhaps in other parts of the world.

It appears that India have not agreed to the experimental law and while I have no problem with that, the sooner the ICC adopts this ruling for all international countries to adhere to the better, so the game can flow and help bring about a positive result. Sponsors, television, spectators who attend the match and officials want to see as much play as possible.Weather prospects for the next two days appear to be better and the captain winning the toss will have the dilemma of making the decision as to batting or bowling first. It would have been a brave captain to have decided to bat first, had play been possible on the first day.

According toRichie Benaud, the former Australian captain and now TV commentator, 8220;When you win the toss, you may think about putting the opposition in first, but in reality you should always bat first in a Test match.8221; There will be a temptation for either captain to win the toss and bowl first because there will be plenty of moisture in the pitch to assist the seam bowlers.

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This Test match is still alive and no player can afford to be complacent and think about a draw because of a lost day8217;s play.