New Zealand in England

[King Pietersen]

What a farce. I bet Irrotev is fuming. Least England didn't lose though . The umpires are idiots, why take take the players off with 6 balls to go ? Pure idiocy, so much for Rule 43.

 

[evertonfan]

I fell over before as well. It's just been one of those days i'm afraid.

 

[Crew of Black]

What a joke!!!

Why didn't they play another over and get a result, that is just a stupid decision. Play the over and get a result.

Cost NZ an almost certain victory, I agree its an absolute farce

 

[Skater]

That was the sort of situation to say 'come back tomorrow, we'll do it all again'.

 

[Leicester Fox]

I haven't seen it so I don't know how bad the rain was but if a player had gotten seriously injured the umpire would be out of a job and a player hurt so you can't blame them.

Having said that if I was a kiwi I'd be pissed

 

[Leggie]

New Zealand have been robbed. Very harsh, couldn't they have just played the last over...

 

[Sureshot]

Personally, from a completely selfish (and biased) point of view, I am happy with the farce that it was, England got away with it. New Zealand were the better side. For most of the game I thought NZ were very lucky (winning toss, succession of French Cuts, etc), the end kind of poured cold water all over that.

I feel for the Kiwi's, that's got to hurt. They were in a strong position to win. Wouldn't say it was a definite NZ win, but they were in charge of the game. It was a horrible day for the game of Cricket (again). Can't blame the umpires today, they followed the rules on the mid-innings break and they were consistent with the rain delays (also a part of the rules, like with Bad Light in Tests, etc).

The England side of me is happy, the Cricket side of me is embarrassed.


I will have an article up tonight, for a full analysis by the brains of Sureshot.

 

[RoboRocks]

The ICC and the umpires should have a look very closely at this sort of thing. I do think that the umpires could of bowled just 6 more deliveries, in which to constitute a game and then go off for rain. England should count themselves very fortunate here since New Zealand would most certainly have won if this game would have kept going.

 

[manee]

Steve Davis did explain himself very well to Hussain on Sky Sports though, imo.

 

[m_vaughan]

Well I dint see the ending but from what my friend was saying it was pretty bad at the start of the last over and the umpires really couldnt risk it. Like someone said, if any picked up any injury, the umpires would come under pressure. Besides they have to follow the rules come what may.

Yes, so England were lucky today. So what?? They've been robbed by the rain and bad light way more in previous occasions. Besides fortune does favor the brave. NZ have three more games left anyways.

 

[Skater]

Absolutely. Look at the Lord's Test last year, robbed on the last day by the umpire and the weather. We were due some luck. Everything that was happening on the pitch was going the Kiwis' way. Let's hope the weather is better on Saturday. Although it doesn't look like it.

 

[Sureshot]

Well I dint see the ending but from what my friend was saying it was pretty bad at the start of the last over and the umpires really couldnt risk it. Like someone said, if any picked up any injury, the umpires would come under pressure. Besides they have to follow the rules come what may.

Yes, so England were lucky today. So what?? They've been robbed by the rain and bad light way more in previous occasions. Besides fortune does favor the brave. NZ have three more games left anyways.

It had been raining for a few overs before that (heavier) downpour came down. Umpires had set a precedent earlier in the game with the break in our innings.

 

[irottev]

I'm speechless. It's just typical for our luck though. These kinds of things are always going against us. You got off that one lucky. I bet it's drawn series and we needed that win for the series now. Ridiculous. A 24 over game and 19 overs couldn't constitute a match. Ridiculous. Waste of time for the spectators, waste of time or the players. Well done ICC.

The umpires need to be sacked.

 

[Sureshot]

I'm speechless. It's just typical for our luck though. These kinds of things are always going against us. You got off that one lucky. I bet it's drawn series and we needed that win for the series now. Ridiculous. A 24 over game and 19 overs couldn't constitute a match. Ridiculous. Waste of time for the spectators, waste of time or the players. Well done ICC.

The umpires need to be sacked.

Technically, they followed the book. They couldn't do anything about the mid-innings interval, they had already took 15 minutes off of it. They had set a precedent with the earlier rain breaks, works in the same way as the bad light does. It had been raining for quite a while before the came off (at the end).

The finger should be pointed at those in charge of the umpires. The mid-innings interval was ridiculous. It's just stupid. You don't need 30 minutes when they're only playing (effectively) a T20 game.

Embarrassment at Edgbaston

 

[irottev]

I blame everyone. Sack everyone.