Umpires engage mid-over due to cloud cover at The Oval due to indolence
The second Test between England and Sri Lanka at the Kia Oval, which was preceded by a protracted wait for negative light, plummeted absurd fresh depths on the next afternoon when Chris Woakes was forced to bowl spin midway through an through due to the concerns of the on-field umpires regarding the deteriorating conditions.
The incident occurred two balloons into the eighth over of Sri Lanka's pitches, moments after they lost their second innings when Dimuth Karunaratne was run out for 9 by Olly Stone's clear hit from the sheets.
Kusal Mendis won the spot at No. Joel Wilson and Chris Gaffaney decided it was too dark for rapid ball when he faced his first ball, even though the Woakes ' average rate in this Test match was around 80mph, but Joel Wilson and Chris Gaffaney decided that with a rise in cloud cover between sales, it was now too dark.
A potential Oval crowd booed the decision, and the commentary box bemoaned it. Michael Atherton declared on Sky Sports that" the show's gone mad" as Woakes served up a first-ball long-hop that Mendis pulled to deep midwicket for a second, next added "oh, that's garbage" as Woakes ' following delivery pitched three legs outside off tree.
Joe Root reacted with an amused raise of the eyebrows, while Ben Stokes- on the England balcony- gesticulated his disbelief before turning to walk into the dressing room.
A third-ball long-hop was then dragged for four by Pathum Nissanka, meaning that the interlude cost England six runs from four balls. The farce was then compounded moments later, when the cloud cover rolled away, and Gus Atkinson, England's fastest bowler on show, was permitted to continue after a subsequent light-meter reading.
It was the third time in as many Tests that Ollie Pope, England's stand-in captain, had been required to make a decision about how England responded to the umpires ' concerns. At Old Trafford, he had chosen to stay on in gloomy conditions, bowling 12 consecutive overs of spin that arguably allowed Sri Lanka to recover from a nadir of 113 for 7 to reach 236. On the other hand, at Lord's, he chose to leave his players early rather than risk wasting the new ball, which led to fierce criticism from Eoin Morgan, England's former white ball captain.
According to Law 2.7.1, which pertains to bad light and other weather-related issues, "it is solely for the umpires together to decide whether either conditions of ground, weather or light or exceptional circumstances mean that it would be dangerous or unreasonable for play to take place".
However, the law subsequently adds:" Conditions shall not be regarded as either dangerous or unreasonable merely because they are not ideal".
The Woakes incident followed on from a frustrating opening day of the contest, which featured a near three-hour delay from 12.18pm to 3.10pm, in which barely a drop of rain fell but a dense layer of cloud cover prevented a resumption. Play was then suspended again at 5.54pm, and abandoned shortly before 6.30pm, with just 44.1 of the day's scheduled 90 overs possible.
Speaking at the close of the opening day, however, Ben Duckett defended the decision, and argued that England's batting- led by his 86 from 79 balls and a first home-ground century for Pope- had given the fans their money's worth.
" I think they saw quite a good day's cricket in the short amount of time there was", Duckett said. " That's living in England and playing cricket in England, they're the conditions. We are the ones playing if the cricket gets really dark and more dangerous, but it's very simple to sit there and cheer on.
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