England’s final match of the summer against Ireland ABANDONED due to rain following heavy downpour, with massive puddles forming on the outfield at Bristol after hosts had threatened to post huge score
- Ben Duckett reached an unbeaten century in the final match of the summer for England
- Zak Crawley and Phil Salt also blasted half-centuries for the hosts
- The match was abandoned after 31 overs due to heavy rain
Cricket here faced weather controversy for the second time in a week yesterday as the final international of a long season was called off amid farcical scenes.
One heavy downpour was enough to abandon the final ODI at 3.21pm, just over half an hour after it started to rain, after Bristol’s ground staff appeared far too slow to cover the square, leaving the pitch soaked and the areas saturated around it. .
And it followed similar scenes at Headingley last Wednesday, when a wet area on one of the bowler’s runs forced what should have been the first match between England and Ireland to be abandoned.
The embarrassment for Gloucestershire was made worse by the fact that England, who won the ‘series’ 1-0, were on course to make history, racing to 280 for four after 31 overs and with a great chance of recording their highest one-day score of 1 -0 to overtake. 498 against the Netherlands last year.
And frustration was compounded for the 5,000 or so spectators who had braved the late September conditions as the cut-off point for refunds passed only once before the players were removed.
Due to heavy rain, the last match of the English summer was abandoned on Tuesday
The grounds crew tried to get the blankets onto the field quickly, but the strong wind made that difficult
England looked set to score a huge score after Ben Duckett hit his maiden ODI hundred
Those supporters were at least treated to a brief but brutal display of batting by England’s second-string one-day side, with Ben Duckett making his first 50-over century after Phil Salt and Will Jacks had given England a spectacular start.
Both teams were then surprised by the speed of the stoppage, with England captain Zak Crawley saying: ‘It’s a shame it ended like this. The ground was wet this morning and it didn’t take much more rain to be abandoned. Then much more came in a short time.
‘It looked like the ground crew were doing their best, but it was difficult for them to put on the blankets. I don’t think anything more could have been done.
Ireland captain Paul Stirling was surprised by the speed of the handshakes between the teams, adding: ‘We may be more used to this in Ireland because it rains a bit more there, but we have never encountered anything like this before in England. it was so sudden. We are quite disappointed.’
It was left to Gloucestershire CEO Will Brown to defend a decision made with over six hours of scheduled match time remaining. “It’s just stupid,” he said. ‘But when you try to move covers, you have to take the circumstances into account.
‘If they are already wet and heavy and it looks like monsoon weather, it becomes a lot more difficult. The ground crew have done an admirable job under very difficult circumstances.’
The bottom line is that Bristol is a county ground hosting an international event and Gloucestershire’s facilities struggled to meet the demands of the occasion.
Sympathy comes late for this game – and it won’t get any easier. The next international in Bristol will be against Australia next year – on September 29.