June20,2008:Kevin Pietersen said last week that he believed 50-over one-day international cricket would be a "thing of the past" in a couple of years. If we get any more matches like last night's at Edgbaston it may not take that long.
The events in Birmingham were yet another example of cricket not helping itself - and all this at a time when there is so much debate about trying to make the game more popular.
I feel really sorry for the 16,000 spectators at Edgbaston on Wednesday night who waited patiently through some horrid weather until 3.00pm to finally see some action in the second NatWest ODI.
What reward did they get for their money and understanding? A farcical and deeply unsatisfactory ending.
In case you were not following the game, originally it was going to be 29 overs per side and was then reduced to 23 overs because of more poor weather. In order to constitute a match both sides have to receive at least 20 overs each and so it was to widespread disbelief that the umpires took the players off after 19 overs.
I admit that conditions just before 7.30pm last night were not at all good - it was raining and very gloomy. But were conditions really any worse at the end of the 19th over than they had been in the preceeding 10 minutes?
I accept that the umpires have to be fair to both sides and have to take safety into account, but surely we could have bowled six more balls. We have to be fair also to the crowd who pay to watch - don't we?
To be honest, I do not necessarily blame the umpires - as Steve Davis told us afterwards, they were only following the playing conditions laid down before the series began - but surely there is room for some common sense.
I found it bizarre that when the game began at 3.00pm we were playing 29 overs per side. With weather conditions poor and a distinctly mixed forecast, why not just agree to play 20 overs per side?
Dare I say it's a format the crowd and players could understand much better. Both sides would have had a much better idea of what a good score was and how to pace their innings. But more importantly we all knew that we were unlikely to get 29 overs in and, surprise, surprise, more bad weather meant the game was reduced to 24 overs and then to 23.
To say it was confusing to all is an understatement. At times the scoreboard was showing the wrong target being chased and how casual cricket followers were supposed to follow what was going on is a mystery to me.
I spend quite a lot of time trying to explain to non-cricket fans why I love the game, but I admit today I have found it very difficult to defend what went on on Wednesday night.
I accept that the umpires have to be fair to both sides and have to take safety into account, but surely we could have bowled six more balls. We have to be fair also to the crowd who pay to watch - don't we?
To be honest, I do not necessarily blame the umpires - as Steve Davis told us afterwards, they were only following the playing conditions laid down before the series began - but surely there is room for some common sense.
I found it bizarre that when the game began at 3.00pm we were playing 29 overs per side. With weather conditions poor and a distinctly mixed forecast, why not just agree to play 20 overs per side?
Dare I say it's a format the crowd and players could understand much better. Both sides would have had a much better idea of what a good score was and how to pace their innings. But more importantly we all knew that we were unlikely to get 29 overs in and, surprise, surprise, more bad weather meant the game was reduced to 24 overs and then to 23.
To say it was confusing to all is an understatement. At times the scoreboard was showing the wrong target being chased and how casual cricket followers were supposed to follow what was going on is a mystery to me.
I spend quite a lot of time trying to explain to non-cricket fans why I love the game, but I admit today I have found it very difficult to defend what went on on Wednesday night.
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Sadly by then the disgruntled crowd had already left - how many of them will come to watch live cricket again?
If you'd like to hear those interviews by the way, then why not listen to the TMS Podcast with Jonathan Agnew and Graham Gooch.
We hope for much better in the third one-dayer at Bristol on Saturday - although as I write, the forecast is mixed again. I hope a few lessons have been learnt from Wednesday's farce.
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