3 Test cricket changes that must be considered as rain ends England Ashes hopes

24 July 2023 , 11:09

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Australia retained the Ashes after the fourth Test ended as a draw due to rain (Image: Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

After such a fascinating and enthralling battle between reigning World Test Champions Australia and a 'Bazball' inspired England, it is an incredible shame that the fate of the Ashes has already been decided by rain ahead of the final Test.

After going 2-0 down in the series, England fought back brilliantly to win the third Test at Headingley and then proceeded to dominate the fourth Test at Old Trafford. However, as England pushed for victory in a bid to level the series, rain intervened and only 31 overs were bowled on days four and five with the game ending in a draw and ensuring Australia retained the urn.

Speaking on day five, when there was no play whatsoever due to the weather, Joe Root questioned why cricket chiefs are not more flexible to ensure overs are not lost. Speaking on BBC Test Match Special, he said: "It doesn't get dark here in England until 10pm in the summer, why can't we just play until we bowl the overs?

"There's been a lot of chat about not bowling the overs. There are so many different ways of trying to find opportunities to get as much play in as possible. At every opportunity at every stage you should be looking to find ways to get the Test on. We batted in worse conditions at Edgbaston, but that is cricket. You just want consistency in those conditions."

Here, we look at some changes cricket chiefs could make in a bid to keep Test cricket alive...

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Earlier starts

Test matches in England typically start at 11am and are due to finish at 6pm, with the potential of an extra half-hour if the scheduled 90 overs are not bowled. Once that extra half-hour has been played, though, any unbowled overs are lost.

Over the first three days at Old Trafford a total of 26 overs were not bowled, pretty much an entire session, so why can't play start earlier than 11am like it does in other countries? Well, it is argued that beginning any earlier would give the bowling side too much of an advantage due to early morning dew.

However, the start of the rescheduled fifth Test between England and India was brought forward to 10:30am to cater to the subcontinent audience watching the game on TV and there were not really any issues. Why can't English cricket be more flexible with start times in the future given that, dating back to 1980, one in every eight Tests held in England has lost a day's worth of cricket?

Joe Root has questioned why play does not simply continue until the full quota of overs has been bowled each day (Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Later finishes

As Root said himself, there have been issues with slow over rates throughout this series, so why does play not continue until the full quota of overs has been bowled for the day?

During this Ashes alone, play has ended on numerous occasions with the sun still shining despite several overs being left unbowled. The ICC have now reduced their sanctions for slow over rates, with players directly appealing to the governing body that they should not be punished financially if they are still "providing entertainment".

There is nothing wrong with draws in Test cricket, sometimes they are more dramatic and entertaining than games that have a result, but over rates have been a huge issue for many years now. The current sanctions have clearly had no affect in addressing that, so perhaps the best way to do so is to play until the 90 overs are bowled.

Michael Vaughan has questioned why a pink ball cannot be used when there are concerns over bad light (Philip Brown/Popperfoto/Popperfoto via Getty Images)

Pink ball switch

England were not happy at all when they were forced to stop bowling their seamers on day four due to bad light, with spinners Root and Moeen Ali and delivering the final 13 overs of the day.

At the time, England had just successfully lobbied to get the ball changed and felt it would swing, a theory Root proved when he bowled an outswinger that moved prodigiously in the air and led to an incredibly difficult chance being shelled by Zak Crawley at first slip. And, as former England captain Michael Vaughan suggested, why can't players simply switch to the pink ball designed for day-night Tests when bad light becomes a factor instead of preventing the seamers from bowling or stopping play entirely?

"Test match cricket is like a grade two listed building," Vaughan told Cricbuzz. "It's like you can't do anything with it. We've got 28,000 people who've paid a lot of money to watch cricket, there's millions watching on telly and listening on the radio... why not just go to a pink ball? We change balls all the time."

Matthew Cooper