The final Test between England and Sri Lanka has been delayed on day one due to bad light in front of a packed crowd at The Oval.
The umpires took the players off 15 overs into the morning session with England on 76-1 having been put in by Sri Lanka. Ben Duckett had already reached his half-century off 48 balls, putting on 31 runs with Ollie Pope after Dan Lawrence was dismissed for five.
Before the start of play, there was some doubt as to whether the match would start on time with rain in the area around the ground and the sky overcast. However, the toss took place as scheduled along with the start of play despite the heavy cloud cover. Forty minutes before the scheduled Lunch interval, however, the umpires checked the light meter and, with rain also around, the players left the field. However, the full covers were not brought onto the field until over an hour after the players had gone off once the rain finally arrived, meaning, if it weren't for the light, play was, in theory, possible.
Under the ICC's Test match playing conditions, section 2.7 states: "It is solely for the umpires together to decide whether either conditions of ground, weather or light or other exceptional circumstances mean that it would be dangerous or unreasonable for play to take place. Conditions shall not be regarded as either dangerous or unreasonable merely because they are not ideal.
"Conditions shall be regarded as dangerous is there is actual and foreseeable risk to the safety of any player or umpire... Conditions shall be regarded as unreasonable if, although posing no risk to safety, it would not be sensible for play to continue."
While play started under floodlights, the umpires deemed the deterioration in light as a risk enough to safety to warrant play to be suspended. While the Sri Lanka seamers were bowling under the grey skies, there was no suggestion before play stopped that either Duckett or Pope were troubled by not being able to see the ball. Two overs before the players came off, Duckett had hammered Milan Rathnayake for two boundaries in the same over.
Under section 2.8.5.3, which concerns light meters, the playing conditions state: "Light meter readings may accordingly be used by the umpires: To determine whether there has been at any stage a deterioration or improvement in the light [and] as benchmarks for the remainder of the match."
In this way, whatever meter reading was taken at the time the players left the field will be the bar for when conditions are considered too dark for the rest of the match.
Play is still suspended at The Oval at the time of writing, with the pitch now under full covers.
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