ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: Anil Kumble Criticises Rain Preparations at the Event

The match between India and New Zealand at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 on June 14 at Nottingham has washed away due to rain as both the teams got one point each. Former Indian Cricketer, Anil Kumble criticized the ECB for making below standards preparations against the rains at the Trent Bridge, Nottingham.

Anil Kumble speaking to the official broadcaster on Thursday questioned the rain preparedness by the England Cricket Board at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. He said, “It’s the water that’s runoff from the covers. My question is there’s been plenty of rain, there was a prediction for a lot of rain this week.”

He continued, “Could they have reinforced more covers in Nottingham and covered most of the area of the ground?”

“The advantage in one sense in England is that you have a large cover. But the disadvantage is when it rains like this. The areas around the bowling run-up are wet,” added the former captain and coach of the Indian Cricket team.

Former West Indies batsman, Brian Lara also criticized the preparations made by the ICC and ECB for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. “It’s a huge tournament. A lot of money is invested. We knew from a long time ago that this rain threat was a great possibility. They should have ideally thought ‘hey, let’s have some extra covers, extra labor so that we have a bit of cricket,” Lara said.

The match between India and New Zealand at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 was abandoned without a toss. Initially, the umpires were unhappy with the wet patches on the outfield which delayed the toss following heavy rains which washed out the game. Had the ECB and ICC protected the whole ground with covers, the toss delayed could have been restricted.

The abandonment means that the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 has already seen a record four matches washed out due to rain. Prior to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, the quadrennial event saw only 2 washouts from 1975 to 2015. The ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 is left with exactly one month with the finals scheduled at July 14 and the numerous numbers of matches being washed out in the event are the major concern for the ICC.