At last. Can't help but wonder where we'd be if Abbas was supporting him from the other end on this wicket.
I have just looked at various streams and all the matches are being played in gloomy conditions, and we are not even out of August. Lord knows what it will be like playing for the Robert Willis trophy at the back end of September, into October. Here is one match that could be played somewhere like Gibraltar, Malta or Dubai where conditions will be much better.
Odd that Lawrence is batting for Essex, given that he retained his place in the squad for the 4th test. Granted, Pope is surely favourite to be the one who replaces Buttler. But nevertheless it's very unusual, particularly in the current climate. The ECB usually like to have at least one too many carrying the drinks.
There's oñe match already affected by bad light, Middlesex v Derbyshire. They have had the lights on, but the players are off. Looked at some other matches and the light was gloomy. And to.think this will happen increasingly during September. What a way to.treat 4 day cricket!! And if it rains ..? A re-think is needed. Go back to the 70s and players played at least 51 days of three-day cricket, that may have included a match against the summer tourests, and 16 rounds of 40 over games in the JPL. Add in the oñe day knock out tournaments! And the season was done and dusted by the second week of September. So last week an entire week was lost by having the T20 on four sepárate evenings. To my mind, all should have been played on the same day, perhaps staggering the start times.
