6 traditional cricket rules ICC should look to change

3. Preponing breaks during a delay in Test matches

One of the most unpredictable and unavoidable factors of any sport is the weather. While the weather holds no importance in certain sports, cricket mandates a dry pitch and outfield.

The five-day-long Test match is divided into three sessions with two breaks – lunch and tea – taken at an interval of approximately 30 overs each. During times when the weather plays the spoilsport, there is a delay in proceedings. The reasons could be due to rain and thunderstorm or even bad lighting. Under such circumstances, match officials generally decide to prepone the breaks by calling an early lunch on many occasions. What happens in such a situation is that the playing duration is cut, and the overs lost out are generally bowled towards the end of the day, in the extra hour allotted.

Often, to maintain the schedule of sessions despite the stoppage of rain or the readiness of the ground, the traditional lunchtime or breaks are taken. This preponement despite ideal playing conditions may disrupt the strategies of the teams who were looking to exploit the conditions under clouds. These final remaining overs may be the difference between a win and a draw such as the 2021’s World Test Championship finals.

The ICC committee should therefore look into the existing rule and alter it in such a way that the match commences right after rain stops and when the ground is ready and safe to play on, instead of delaying things for traditional breaks. The session breaks can further be delayed for the teams to get the maximum overs possible out of the day’s play.