I think this tour is going to be affected by WEATHER a LOT!!! It’s a shocker, i mean i never thought about this before untill i read this article today and they are absolutely SPOT ON!!. Everyone knows that November-December weather is just HORRIBLE to say the least. Sometimes, you don;t even get to see the sun all day because of thick fog(mainly in Punjab and that’s where all the TESTS will be played). This is much awaited series and i think it should have been sceduled at a better time. Now we can only HOPE to have results in this sort weather, ODI’s will be played at WORST possible time so at least we can hope to have results in the test matches at least.
England tour opener to determine weather’s effect
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will know in Rawalpindi during England’s three-day tour opener from October 31 how much the winter weather is going to affect the Tests and One-day Internationals scheduled in November and December.
The PCB has decided the three-dayer will start at 10.00am everyday with the close of play at 4.30pm with minimum of 83 overs to be bowled in the day.
“We’ll get a fair idea of what to expect in the series from this match. Because there is no doubt that the winter season means delayed starts and early finishes,” Director Cricket Operations PCB Saleem Altaf said.
The Board has in the playing conditions for the series opted for early 9.30am starts to the first two Tests in Multan (November 12-16) and Faisalabad (November 20-24) with a minimum of 83 overs in the day. But they’ve decided the third Test in Lahore (November 29-December 3) will have a normal start at 10.00am with minimum of 90 overs to be bowled in the day.
“The tour opener will give us a fair idea of what to expect. But we are hoping that the matches are not disrupted too much by the weather,” Altaf said.
Traditionally Tests and first-class matches are disrupted badly due to late starts because of fog and early ends due to bad light in November-December in the cities of Punjab. A Test match against Zimbabwe in Faisalabad in mid-December 1998 was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to thick fog while earlier the fifth day of the second Test in Lahore was also abandoned due to poor visibility.
Altaf admitted even managing 83 overs could be a problem because the early start would depend on the ground conditions and light.
Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif had no doubt that due to the weather conditions in Punjab an early start was a viable solution to the problem of not losing too many overs.
“But even then I think they’ll lose around 35 to 40 overs in a match and that sort of thing can have a big bearing on the outcome of a game,” he said.
Under the playing conditions for the Test series, the PCB will use Australian brand Kookaburra cricket balls in all matches.