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Fantain's Take : Cricket and the Rain

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When it comes to a good game of cricket, the winner is the one who was the better man that day. The team that has come out on top is the team that has displayed better cricketing tactics and skills.
The winner of this tournament - the ICC Championships Trophy 2017 - seems to rely on Duckworth-Lewis than batting and bowling. That is truly a sad state of affairs. I mean, even grandmothers know it rains during Diwali in Chennai, and for a while, BCCI used to schedule an ODI game on Diwali day at Chepauk. I myself have bought tickets for that a couple of times only to be disappointed.
Someone should have a look at how the International Cricket Council even plans the various tournaments throughout the year. Even world cup matches have not been able to escape this fiasco.
1992. World Cup. Semis. It was South Africa’s first world cup adventure. They had been through a lot to make it to the tournament. And to the Semifinals. In order to make it to the finals, they had to beat England. They needed 22 runs from 13 balls. Close but very much possible. They could have done it too. But then it rained. Only for twelve minutes at that. Duckworth and Lewis stepped in. The final target was set to 22 runs off 1 ball. Even England was embarrassed at what could only be described as preposterous. To make matters worse, England met Pakistan - who had also benefited from the rain.
Coming back to the ICC Championship Tournament 2017. Australia vs Bangladesh. Bangladesh was on the verge of crashing out. It was a no-brainer. Until it rained, that is. They were saved by the rain. Leaving Australia beyond frustrated. Well on course to chase the target of 183, the rains rained on their parade leaving them high and dry.
The list of rain-washed matches is big. Big enough to have its own Wikipedia page. The extremely difficult to follow but highly respected D/L method is the decider for the day. Does it seem fair? Seems easier to pray for rain than go through years of hard work and relentless practice.
The big question for the day - Why do we have cricket matches where you know it rains during that time of the year? It seems like a very easy question. What’s the answer? Is the crowd turn-out more important than the weather?
Washed out matches are a disappointment. Even more tragic is a team that did not do well making it to the next round because of technicality. And maths that we simply do not get.


Indu

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