‘Test cricket needs to realise…’: From Waugh to Pollock, legends call for change in rules after bad light farce at SCG

Australia were batting at 147/2 when umpires called for stumps, as overcast conditions in Sydney brought halt to the action barely halfway through the day.

The ongoing Test between Australia and South Africa in Sydney left many frustrated after play on Day 1 was disrupted due to bad weather and a brief spell of rain. Australia were batting at 147/2 when umpires called for stumps, as overcast conditions in Sydney brought halt to the action barely halfway through the day. It has now been decided that the match will resume half an hour earlier than its scheduled start on Day 2.

Umpires Chris Gaffaney (L) and Paul Reiffel check a light meter reading during a delay due to bad light on Day 1 of the 3rd Test between Australia and South Africa (AFP)

The decision for early stumps, however, met with strong reactions from cricket legends, who called for implementation of new rules in such scenarios. As per the current rule, play cannot continue further if the reading on light meter is not better than what it was before the action was halted.

Former Australia cricketer Kerry O’Keeffe, who is part of the Fox Sports commentary panel, said: “Sometimes it can give you a false impression of how dark it is. But this is the reading for the rest of the game, in the middle of the afternoon.”

Mark Waugh too felt that light was sufficient for the match to be continued. “I’d like to change the rules. I’m saying once the lights are on we stay on, simple as that,” Waugh said on Fox Cricket.

“I really don’t understand. If it was a pink ball, we’d be on there, if it was a red ball, ok it’s not perfect, it’s an outdoor sport, sometimes the light favours one side over the other.”

He added: “The ICC need to look at the crowd here, there’s 30,000 people here. Did Australia look like they couldn’t see the ball when they were batting? I think they saw it ok.

“Lights are on, we stay on. Simple. There’s no way we should have went off when we did ... I just think we’ve got to change our way of thinking.”

Former South Africa pacer Shaun Pollock too highlighted the fact that play would have continued had this been a pink-ball Test. “It is funny in the game we play that you change it to a pink ball and we keep going. It’s just the nature of the beast,” he was quoted as saying in the same report.

“You kind of think, well, keep developing the pink ball to make it perform exactly like the red ball at all times, and then you’ve solved that problem forever and a day,” he added.

Allan Border, who was present in the middle while the play was stopped, also echoed for a rule change. “The current light rule is too soft. We come off too easily. I think it’s something the game has to look at much more closely,” he said.

Meanwhile, former Australia captain and Mark's brother Steve Waugh too had a similar reaction. Shred a photo on Instagram of the venue with the floodlights on, Waugh wrote: “Test cricket needs to realise there is a lot of competition out there and not using the lights when the players are off for bad light simply doesn’t add up.

“Lots of unhappy spectators who can’t understand the rationale and reason for no play.”