Pakistan bowling coach Waqar Younis said that he wanted to see teams “staying out there a bit longer” after bad light blighted the second Test against England at Southampton.
Monday saw a match where a draw had long appeared an inevitable end, with England still in their first innings at 110-4 as they replied to Pakistan’s 236.
Only 134.3 overs were bowled in total, with the whole of Saturday’s third day washed out, but while there is an understanding rain can delay play, many pundits were scathing about the repeated stoppages for bad light at a ground where the floodlights were in use.
While some observers suggested a pink ball, as happens in day-night Tests, could be used to aid greater visibility, fast-bowling great Waqar said that greater flexibility from the match officials was the best way of maximizing playing time.
“I feel unless light gets really bad, we can stay out there a bit longer, but I’m generally in favor of changing as little in Test cricket as possible,” Waqar said after a result that left Pakistan 1-0 down in a three-match series ahead of the third Test, also at Southampton, starting on Friday.
“It’s the oldest and most traditional format. What we need to be careful of is which kind of cricket ball is used,” he said.
“I don’t yet know how a Dukes pink ball is going to behave in this country. If conditions are overcast and the lights are on, maybe it’ll do too much. It can work, but we’d need further trials in England,” Waqar added.
Meanwhile England captain Joe Root, although sympathetic to the position on-field umpires Richard Kettleborough and Michael Gough found themselves in at the Ageas Bowl, said that changes must be made “somewhere, somehow.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a game be affected by bad light as much as this. I’m not exactly sure what the answers are to be honest, but until those things change from the ICC [International Cricket Council], the umpires have to follow the rules in front of them and as players we have to do as we are told,” Root said.
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