Factoring in reserve days could be logistical nightmare: ICC

Despite rain playing spoilsport for the second consecutive day at the ongoing World Cup, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Tuesday that factoring in reserve days would make the tournament a "logistical nightmare".

After the match between South Africa and West Indies was called off on Monday due to inclement weather, not a single ball could be bowled in the Sri Lanka-Bangladesh game in Bristol on Tuesday, making the ongoing event the World Cup with most number of washouts in a single edition.

On June 7, the tie between Pakistan and Sri Lanka was also abandoned without a ball being bowled.

"Factoring in a reserve day for every match at the ICC World Cup would significantly increase the length of the tournament and practically would be extremely complex to deliver," ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said in a statement.

"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 travel hours to be at the game. There is also no guarantee that the reserve day would be free from rain either.

"Up to 1,200 people are on site to deliver a match and everything associated with it, including getting it broadcast, and a proportion of them are moving around the country. So reserve days in the group stages would require a significant uplift in the number of staff.

"We have reserve days factored in for the knock-out stages, knowing that over the course of 45 group games, we should play the large majority," the statement said.

Richardson further said, "This is extremely unseasonal 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 2 mm of rain in June but the last 24 hours alone has seen around 100 mm rainfall in the south-east of England.

"When a match is affected by weather conditions, the venue team works closely with match officials and ground staff to ensure that we have the best possible opportunity to play cricket, even if it is a reduced overs game.

--IANS

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