LONDON: The rain has started to make its presence felt in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. The Pakistan vs Sri Lanka match at Bristol was the first casualty of rain as it was abandoned without a ball being bowled. On Monday, South Africa vs West Indies was abandoned after only 7.3 overs of play was possible in Southampton. And on Tuesday, the rain yet again washed out the Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka match in Bristol.

To make things worse, the weather forecast is not good for the upcoming games as well. There are chances of Pakistan’s second match being washed-out as well as they face Australia on Wed­enesday at Taunton. Not only this, the weather for India vs New Zealand clash at Trent Bridge in Nottinghamshire doesn’t look good and the game could be washed-out as well.

With rains affecting games now, fans are unhappy at ICC’s scheduling of World Cup in England. Some also believe that the matches should have taken place in the second half of the summer when the weather is relatively dry.

There are concerns over the weather in Manchester for the big India vs Pakistan match. As per weather forecast available right now, there is 40% chance of match during the day and that could apparently play the spoilsport.

Besides questioning the schedule, fans are unhappy with the fact that there is no reserve day for round-robin matches. It is only in semi-finals and final that the matches will have a reserve day in case there is a washout. In round-robin matches, participating teams are being awarded one point each for an abandoned match.

Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2019