ENG vs PAK | Bad light issue needs to be addressed by the ICC, admits Joe Root

When the two skippers - Azhar Ali and Joe Root - shook hands right before the start of the final hour on Day 5 in Southampton, the gesture brought to end what could be described as one of the most frustrating Test matches of all time. A total of just 807 balls (134.3 overs) were bowled across five days and while there was the occasional shower which interrupted the match, the Test was mainly ruined by bad light and lack of urgency on the part of umpires to get the match running, both of which have come under criticism by multiple experts.

England skipper Joe Root, too, has now joined in on voicing against the existing rules and has admitted that the bad light issue needs to be ‘addressed somewhere, somehow’.

"I do think it's hard to blame the umpires (Richard Kettleborough and Michael Gough)," Root said. "I think there is something bigger that needs looking at, higher up the chain. This is way above my pay grade. I don't think I have ever seen a game be affected by bad light as much as this, which is very frustrating.

"But also the weather as well, it's been very wet throughout the week. It is frustrating and it's obviously been a huge talking point. I do think it needs to be addressed somewhere, somehow."

The existing rules state that play can be extended beyond normal time to cram in extra overs, but the provision to start matches ahead of scheduled time was scrapped some time back by the ICC. Root feels that it will be more practical to start games 30 mins or an hour early as it will also ensure that the effect of ‘bad light’ will be minimal.

"Maybe we could start half-an-hour earlier if we've lost time," Root said.

"You don't necessarily have to start every game at 10.30am, but maybe if you need to make time up that is something to look at so light isn't as much of an issue. It's something to look at. It may be a possibility.

"Maybe there's got to be a minimum standard of floodlights and (we should) play on throughout. Maybe we could use a lighter red ball rather than a dark Dukes ball. There are different things that could be trialed to avoid similar scenarios in future."

Meanwhile, former English skipper Michael Vaughan, in a Facebook post, laid into the ICC and the officials for what unfolded at the Ageas Bowl and wrote that the chain of events that happened in the second Test were insulting for both the viewers and the broadcasters. Vaughan hoped for the second Test to be the ‘tipping point’ for the ICC to address the bad light fiasco.

“Cricket cannot afford to endure another week like this. This Test match must be the tipping point for the game to finally address some of its arcane regulations. 

"To have teams going off for bad light when the floodlights are on is a terrible look. For the day to be called off in broad daylight and sunshine because of a wet outfield on Sunday night looked as if nobody cared about getting the match played. It was a complete snub for the paying viewer at home and the broadcasters who pump so much money into cricket.

"It is good the ICC’s cricket committee is to look at bad light regulations and hopefully we will look back on this Test as the week when everything changed for the better,” Vaughan wrote on Facebook. 

The third Test, too, will be played at the Ageas Bowl, starting August 21.