Only 7.3 overs were bowled at the Ageas Bowl, where South Africa picked up their first point of the tournament after their match was abandoned
South Africa have their first point!
Related: Cricket World Cup 2019: latest standings
The umpires have conceded defeat, which means South Africa have avoided defeat for the first time in the competition. They and West Indies take a point each from another frustrating day. Whaddya gonna do? Watch Matlock at 5pm and find out who murdered the umpire, that’s what!
This is the second washout in four days, and there could be another in Bristol tomorrow, where Banglanka take on the Weather Gods. Thanks for your company and emails. Bye!
“I find it incredibly poor planning on the ICCs part,” says Peter Boyce, “that they didn’t think to play the World Cup last year when the weather was perfect.”
“As a South African currently living/weather-enduring in Yorkshire, might I suggest the most logical solution would be not to stage the World Cup in the UK?” bolditalicises Louwrens Botha. “Very strange that cricket, one of the most rain-sensitive sports in the world, has its spiritual home on this island. Maybe there’s an underperforming ICC country with a lovely Mediterranean climate, balanced pitches, delicious cheap wine and dramatic mountain backdrops that could be a good alternative? Just thinking out loud.”
I’m not sure the wine in Scotland is cheap, to be fair.
There will be a final inspection in 15 minutes, and then the umpires will formally accept what they have known in their hearts since around midday.
“Solved it!” says Matt Dony, high-fiving a posse of confused octogenarians. “If matches are washed out, then it probably is too much hassle to rearrange them. But also seems unfair to assign a single point each. Get the Pools Panel involved. Decide who would have won, and assign points accordingly. Nothing, and I mean nothing, could go wrong with that. I’m available to solve other problems, for a small fee.”
“Beautiful weather in Dallas today (couldn’t say the same yesterday),” says Ben Mimmack. “This business of awarding one point for a washout is a bit unsatisfying. There must be a way of deciding this game that would also entertain the crowd. My suggestions: Penalty shootout, Sprint relay, Karaoke contest, Yard of ale, Beauty pageant. Or a combination of all of them.”
Musical interlude, courtest of Anna Meredith MBE
“Seven days is too many,” says Tom Carver. “I blame Tom Wichert (13.39pm) for suggesting it. Set one day aside. Eleven grounds are involved. One more game at each ground, all played on the same day, should be ample to cover the number of lost games.”
That way you could have a team playing three games in three days, the last of which would be a semi-final. And what if one team has two or three matches washed out? I feel a bit guilty for playing the role of Baron Pooh-Pooh, but I can’t see a practical solution.
There will be another inspection at 3.45pm. Some of the covers have been removed, but don’t change your breathing pattern just yet.
Everything, the state thereof
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“People have been saying it would be harsh to miss out on qualification after a washed-out no result,” says Andrew Cosgrove. “Looking at the cricket that actually has gone ahead today (eg Worcs skittled for 98 by Lancashire), it’s clearly not a batsman’s day, and will be miserable for the players. Is the point-apiece wash-out less fair than trying to get a game done in such conditions, which might be a lottery with one team being shot out in bowler-friendly conditions? It seems to me to be an equally harsh way to decide qualification.”
Yes, possibly, although red- and white-ball cricket are very different. I know what you mean, though.
“It is not difficult to arrange reserve days,” says Tom Carver. “Simply set everything up for seven games to happen in the week after round robin and before semi-finals, selling tickets cheaply on a contingent basis. If no games are needed then there are some wasted costs (but probably not significant in these days of zero hours contracts), but if the games are needed then there is some extra money earnt by the hosting grounds and a full quota of cricket played. More cricket and more money – just as the ICC likes it.”
Trouble is, even if that was feasible, what if no reserve days are needed? The tournament loses all momentum and teams go into the semi-finals having not played for 7-10 days. I think that’s a far greater evil.
“Since there’s nothing else to talk about,” says Andrew Cosgrove, “I’d like to say that Balaji Mannu’s pub visits (email in the 15:01 update) sound much more interesting than any of mine if they require permission from the council, TV coverage and DRS equipment.”
Wetherspoons really has changed since your visit.
“This is a bit of a tough sell,” says Abhijato Sensarma, “but here I go anyways: there is an off-season in the cricket calendar every year during the formerly CLT20 slot. I had an idea... Couldn’t the winner of the County Championship play the winner of the Ranji Trophy? It could be done on a neutral wicket, such as the ones in South Africa or in the Caribbean, which has something for everyone. It could be a three-match series, or even a knockout tournament of four-day matches between more champion domestic teams. I get the feeling people will like it!”
I wish I could say I get the same feeling.
The drizzle has returned. I’m probably not giving away trade secrets when I say there’s a 0.06 per cent chance of any more play in this match.
While we wait for more news, here’s an email from Balaji Mannu on the subject of reserve days. “From my experiences in real life of organising events (birthday parties, pub visits, match days etc.), the planning around security, hotel bookings, council permissions, TV slots & DRS equipment all make it very difficult to arrange a reserve day. It’s not about money. And as an Indian supporter may I say it’s not the BCCI’s doing.”
The umpires will inspect at 3.15pm local time. There’s a lot of clearing up to do, and the forecast is still dreadful for the rest of the day. But where there’s hope, there’s hope!
The covers are coming off! Crikey, I didn’t see that coming. We may yet have a game.
“Hints of sun here,” says Nick Miller down in Southampton. “Meanwhile they’re interviewing Clive Lloyd & Viv Richards on the big screen. They just asked Clive what his favourite food was.”
It’s like Small Talk never happened.
Here’s more on Jos Buttler’s hip injury, which may keep him out of England’s sizeable match against West Indies on Friday.
Related: Injury puts Jos Buttler in doubt for England’s game against West Indies
It’s raining again Great stuff.
“Is there any reason we could not have had reserve days for the group stage, as allocated for the semi-finals and final (I.e. reserve day only to be used if 20 overs per side not possible on the originally scheduled day)?” says Seth Levine. “I suspect the answer will include the words / letters ‘BCCI’, ‘television’ and ‘money’, but can’t work out what the objection might be. As long as ticket-holders have right to request refund for washed-out scheduled play, not sure who the losers would be.”
It must be a logistical thing, though like you I’m not sure what the specific problem might be. It’s a great, catch-all term, that. Look, it’s not you. It’s not even me – it’s a logistical thing!
Thank you so much @TheRealPCB. Inspirational #WeAreSomerset#WeHaveWeWill#CWC19@cricketworldcup@ICCpic.twitter.com/AN2TIxH7d1
The rain has stopped and the groundstaff are going about their business. But before you get your cricket freak on, more rain is forecast at around 4pm.
“Shall we talk about Australia?” says Pete Salmon. “I was one of about 7 Aussies there in a crowd of 25,000 and had a glorious time, but it didn’t look good. I’m not feeling so down on Warner as most people seem to be – right from ball one he looked like he was having a rubbish day at the office, never middling it, but difficult to ask an international cricketer to just get out as quickly as possible. Main problem seems to be that we are a batsman short and a bowler short. Khawaja can score at a run a ball, but that’s all very 2013 now. Could Carey bat at six? Dreadfully makeshift, but the clock is ticking. And would allow one other bowler to at least absorb some overs – the Stoinis, Coulter-Nile, Zampa, Maxwell quartet looked very ordinary. Thoughts?”
Yes, Khawaja and Coulter-Nile - his Chetan Sharmaish hitting aside - look like weak links from afar, although these things are relative. I like Zampa, but Lyon is a very persuasive option and I’m sure both will play at some stage. I would have had Hazlewood in the team, never mind the squad; in his absence, I like what I’ve seen of Kane Richardson and would bring him in for Coulter-Nile. Not sure about Carey at No6 - that would mean a pretty long tail, especially if you’re chasing 300+. I wouldn’t worry too much. The spine of the team is so strong that they could easily win the tournament.
If this match is abandoned, as looks likely, South Africa will probably need to win all their remaining games - Afghanistan, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Australia - to have any chance of reaching the semi-finals.
Related: Cricket World Cup 2019: latest standings
“David Warner looks like he’s trying to disguise who he really is by growing a beard - understandably so,” says Ian Forth. “This simple technique works well in thrillers where often a baseball cap and an upturned collar is all that’s required to render oneself incognito (see, for example, Frank Underwood in House of Cards when he kills the [shut it! - plotspoiler ed]). However Warner might like to remember that the word ‘Warner’ is written across his shoulders.”
He’ll never make the all-time beard XI.
“I am retired, live in NZ and I love watching cricket but don’t know the finer details especially the procedures when the games get rained off,” says Rosemary Hooper. “Is it possible if it rains for the next 40 days and 40 nights NZ may win without facing another ball!”
If that happens, I think the apocalypse will be the winner.
“Just been thinking how incredibly unfair it is that teams could potentially miss out on a semi-final spot, cos they only got a point in a game they most probably would have won even half arsed,” says Tom Wichert. “Would a solution not be to schedule a week, or at least a few days, in between the end of the round robin and the knockout stages in which any games that were rained off can be played? I know it could hose it down then again, but surely a week would be enough time in which to complete these games?”
I like the idea in principle, but surely it’s a logistical impossibility? Like you, though, I fear the weather will effectively decide at least one of the semi-final places.
David Warner played a strange innings at the Oval yesterday, where India beat Australia by 36 runs. Geoff Lemon tried to make sense of it all.
Related: David Warner’s caution and Usman Khawaja’s demotion stump Australia | Geoff Lemon
The Spin is great, part two
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The Spin is great, part one
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“Rain here has almost stopped,” writes our own Nick Miller, “but is just spitting enough to prevent them coming back on. In short, the most irritating rain you can imagine.”
Obviously you’re not a golfer.
The cut-off time is 5pm, it says here. If play hasn’t resumed by then, the match will be abandoned and we’ll all be able to watch Matlock on CBS Justice. Looks like a good one: A baseball umpire is murdered, and all the members of a team have a motive for the crime.
“The chance to meet Robin Smith in the flesh almost makes me consider getting on the train to London next week if the weather looks terrible for the game at Old Trafford (for which I have decent seats),” says Guiy Hornsby. “Yes, this sounds ridiculous, but so does trying to put into words the adolescent admiration for one of Smith’s rapier-sharp, and devastatingly timed square cuts. Multiply by ten for those while facing the West Indies. I think I need a lie down.”
He hit some screamers during the 1989 Ashes as well.
“Re: Matt Dony’s comment at 12:29,” says Colum Farrelly. “There is an argument that TMS and OBO between them have failed to keep Matt Dony sane. Just saying.”
Motion sustained.
“Did you hear Michael Holding read out a message from a South African acquaintance on commentary the other day?” says Don Wilson. “‘The South African team will soon have some difficult decisions to make: beef or chicken, window or aisle seat?’ That’s pretty mean from one of your own supporters.”
Never mind that; what about the carnivorenormative attitude?
Most of the County Championship matches have also been rain-affected, though there has been enough dry weather for Ben Sanderson, James Anderson and Graham Onions to get among the wickets.
Related: County cricket: Surrey v Yorkshire, Kent v Somerset and more – live!
In other news, if you live in London and get high on a rasping square cut, this might be of interest: Robin Smith will be signing copies of his new book at Leadenhall Market next Tuesday. (Full disclosure: I get high on a rasping square cut.)
If you’re hoping to see more cricket, or even read about it, I’m afraid to say the forecast for this afternoon puts the ‘ugh’ in ‘laughable’.
“I am absolutely here all week,” says Matt Dony. “And beyond! I spend most of my working day alone in a lab (it’s not as Bond-Villain-y as it sounds...), so having a World Cup game every day is fantastic! TMS and OBO are keeping me sane and offering a welcome distraction from faux-science. So, yeah, the rain sucks.”
If you’re such a “hot-shot scientist”, can’t you make the rain stop, eh?
Injury Update about @josbuttler
“Jos sustained heavy bruising on his right hip during the match
He is responding well to treatment & will be reassessed later this week.
We anticipate he will train with the rest of the squad at the Hampshire Bowl on Wednesday”#bbccricketpic.twitter.com/TibylFJ6Gf
️ Yep.. still pic.twitter.com/Wmr3GGCoLs
“Totally unexpected and highly random bit of information for you,” says Phil Withall. “I just walked into the front room to find my wife watching The Voice Australia. Normally I would retreat as fast as my aging legs would allow. However tonight one of the singers was Henry Olaoga, former Zimbabwean cricketer and all round legend. Bloody hell, that man has some pipes on him.”
Yeah, right. Next you’ll be telling me Sir Curtly Ambrose was on Dancing with the Stars.
An email from Matt Dony, who is definitely here all week
“If it helps, Carmarthen is currently enjoying a spell of sunshine,” says Matt. “Few clouds, but nothing to worry about until much later this evening. Johnstown Cricket Pitch is empty. Can we get a couple of minibuses for the players?”
The covers are still on. We could be here a while, potentially all week.
“I’ve found the reason for England’s miserable weather,” says Abhijato Sensarma. “Since the World Cup started, I’ve had mathematics tuition on two days - the day on which PAK v SL was rained off, and now I’m on my way to the tuition again, with SA v WI threatening to be rained off too. Surely trigonometry is the bad omen here?”
It could well be trigonometry, but my money’s still on ostensibly random meteorological vicissitudes.
Thanks Tim, hello everyone. Rain is becoming an unwelcome influence at this World Cup. Bad weather is intrinsically annoying for those who don’t like cricket but love it. And when you have a competition that includes a league stage, there is the potential for four years’ work to be undone by one downpour.
In the 1992 World Cup, the last time there was a round robin, the eventual winners Pakistan only qualified for the semi-finals - ahead of Australia - because it hosed down in Adelaide after England skittled them for 74. We may, at the end of this tournament, reflect on something similar. And if England fail to reach the semis because of washouts against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, I’m through with cricket, and even the most cautious hope.
Still no sign of a resumption, and I’ve got a plane to catch (long story), so Rob Smyth has kindly agreed to take over early, on top of covering two football matches yesterday. The man is a team player as well as a star.
Thanks for your company, your emails and pedantries. See you on Friday for some more West Indies, when they face England in a match that looks like having a big say in the table.
And here’s Robert Thicknesse. “V pleased to see I’m not the only one adding years to my age by obsessing about l.c. dus and des. And vans for that matter. Except those damn Van Zandts. (Actually the murderer in Dead Man Walking was always De Rocher too.) Anyway, keep up the Canute-style good work!” There’s a backhand compliment if I ever got one. And yes, Rob is the son of John Thicknesse, the late legendary Thickers, long-time cricket correspondent of the London Evening Standard.
If you’re not pedantically inclined, look away now. “Morning Tim.” It’s Romeo, picking up on my remark in the 7th over. “And you don’t know how lucky you are to have someone reading what you write who cares about the fact that ‘lower case’ shouldn’t have a hyphen except when used attributively. Enjoy the day!” Too shay.
It’s a good time for an old friend to resurface. “As a Saffer (ex),” says Richard Mansell, “I don’t even know if it’s cowardly to pray for rain. What happens if a match is rained out?” One point each: it’ll be South Africa’s undisputed highlight of the World Cup so far.
We have our own weatherman. “I live just to the right of the match today,” says Peter Gibbs, “and there is some right filth on the rain radar that’s just hitting us now.” The right, meaning the east? Doesn’t the weather tend to from the west?
“We had thought to get one of those hotel rooms overlooking the pitch.” Hang on, didn’t you say you were just up the road? “But at upwards of £400 a night (usually just a quarter of that) we thought....nah. I should imagine those who have booked in for Friday’s match will be quaking at their commitment to booking the same room at £850ish for one night. It might still make sense if you can smuggle all your mates on to the balcony with you to risk the wash-out but really...” Yes, you’d need a lot of faith in the weather. And a lot of mates.
Mid-8th over: South Africa 29-2 (de Kock 17, du Plessis 0) So you see off Kemar Roach (3-0-10-0) and on comes Oshane Thomas, who is faster and less rusty. No wonder de Kock takes a single first ball, running it down to third man. And then there’s a spot of rain, and the umpires take the players off, rather swiftly by English standards. The stump mike reveals that Rod Tucker is worried about the footholds.
7th over: South Africa 28-2 (de Kock 16, du Plessis 0) That’s a wicket maiden from Cottrell as Faf du Plessis, the captain of a wobbly ship, plays safe for his first five balls. We have a man called du joining a man called de. They don’t know how lucky they are to have someone writing about them who cares about whether those little words are lower-case.
Cottrell’s lifter leaves another batsman wondering why he played it. It was outside leg and would have been a wide if Markram had left it. Easier said than done, of course, and SA’s nightmare goes on.
6th over: South Africa 28-1 (de Kock 16, Markram 5) A push for two from de Kock, nice and straight. It would be so good to see him get 80 off 50 here.
5th over: South Africa 25-1 (de Kock 14, Markram 4) This pitch is usually good for batting but it reserves the right to produce a rip-snorter every so often. Cottrell does that again and has de Kock jumping for something other than joy. He bounces back with a couple of cuts, for two and four. Good contest.
4th over: South Africa 17-1 (de Kock 6, Markram 4) Markram didn’t just play for Hampshire earlier this season, he made plenty of runs in 50-over cricket. He starts solidly enough against Roach and then produces a punchy off drive for four. The score predictor is giving SA 312, which raises the question of whether score predictors know the meaning of the phrase “In their dreams”.
3rd over: South Africa 11-1 (de Kock 5, Markram 0) It was all going so well – we’d just seen the first signs of aggression as de Kock pulled Cottrell for three and Amla followed up with a square drive for four, easy as you like, all timing, only to depart two balls later, defeated by Cottrell’s bounce.
Noooo... Cottrell finds some lift and Amla can only fend to Gayle at slip.
2nd over: South Africa 4-0 (Amla 2, de Kock 2) Another push to leg for a single from de Kock, and another watchful start for this throwback of a World Cup.
Roach’s first ball is nicked behind by de Kock – or is it? He reviews pretty confidently. Off the hip, so off the hook too.
1st over: South Africa 3-0 (Amla 2, de Kock 1) Sheldon Cottrell opens up with a few dots to de Kock, who wafts at thin air before taking a single off his pads. Amla is more solid, spotting a full one quickly and pushing his first ball into the covers for two.
If you prefer your sogginess to come with some county scores attached, go here to follow Tanya Aldred on the blog from Guildford, where Surrey badly need a win against Yorkshire.
From the pre-match chat.
1 Faf du Plessis has a bruised knee, to go with any soreness about his team’s poor start.
South Africa 1 Hashim Amla, 2 Quentin de Kock (wkt), 3 Faf du Plessis (capt), 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Rassie van der Dussen, 6 David Miller, 7 Andile Phehlukwayo, 8 Chris Morris, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Beuran Hendricks, 11 Imran Tahir.
West Indies 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Shai Hope (wkt), 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Nicholas Pooran, 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Jason Holder (capt), 7 Carlos Brathwaite, 8 Ashley Nurse, 9 Kemar Roach, 10 Sheldon Cottrell, 11 Oshane Thomas.
West Indies lose Andre Russell to a knee injury and leave out Evin Lewis, so Shai Hope moves up to open with Chris Gayle. In come Darren Bravo and Kemar Roach, to add even more pace to a powerful attack.
South Africa also make two changes. Aiden Markram, who has played here for Hampshire, replaces the out-of-form JP Duminy in the middle order, and the left-armer Beuran Hendricks comes in to add variety to the seam bowling. He is 28 but has only three ODIs behind him.
We have one! Faf du Plessis spins, Jason Holder says heads, it is, and sure enough he elects to field. Faf says he would have done the same, but points out that it is likely to be overcast all day. Hard to argue with that.
Morning everyone. We need to talk about the weather – this is England, after all. It’s been pretty good so far, with just the one match out of 14 washed away, and that, with all respect to Pakistan and Sri Lanka, only a medium-sized occasion. But the papers are full of gloom this morning, saying a month’s rain’s a-gonna fall in 24 hours flat. And today’s meeting between West Indies and South Africa at the Hampshire Bowl looks like being, at best, severely interrupted.
The chance of rain, according to the Met Office, is the wrong side of 50 per cent all day long. That said, the Bowl is only four miles from the sea as the crow flies, and the weather on the coast is more capricious than most, so there’s a glimmer of hope.
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