ICC CWC 2019: ICC CEO Richardson defends no-reserve day’s decision


Xtra Time Web Desk:
The International Cricket Council Cricket World Cup CEO David Richardson on Tuesday expressed his reservations of having a reserve day for the ongoing matches of the tournament. For the second time in two days, a match has to be called off due to the rains. After Monday’s West Indies versus South Africa match was called off, Tuesday’s clash between sub-continent rivals Bangladesh and Sri Lanka also had a similar fate with the points being shared by both teams.

According to Richardson, “Factoring in a reserve day for every match at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup would significantly increase the length of the tournament and practically would be extremely complex to deliver.”

“It would impact pitch preparation, team recovery and travel days, accommodation and venue availability, tournament staffing, volunteer and match officials availability, broadcast logistics and very importantly the spectators who in some instances have traveled hours to be at the game. There is also no guarantee that the reserve day would be free from rain either.”

“Up to 1200 people are on site to deliver a match and everything associated with it including getting it broadcast and a proportion of them are moving around the country so reserve days in the group stage would require a significant uplift in the number of staff. We have reserve days factored in for the knock-out stages, knowing that over the course of 45 group games we should play the large majority.”

“This is extremely unseasonable weather. In the last couple of days we have experienced more than twice the average monthly rainfall for June which is usually the third driest month in the UK. In 2018 there was just 2mm of rain in June but the last 24 hours alone has seen around 100mm fall in the south-east of England.”