Why Can't Cricket Be Played In The Rain?

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Cricket does seem like a fragile sport doesn't it?

A "little bit" of cloud cover and the players are off the field because of bad light. As a new fan I would wonder, "Why are they leaving? The light isn't that bad, is it?"

A bit of drizzle, and rain stops play. How annoying. 

"In other sports it takes a hailstorm to get players off the field," some people might even mutter.

 

For a sport in which players are literally wrapped in safety gear you would think it should surely take more than a bit of rain to stop a match, shouldn't it?

Well, in cricket rain generally affects the outcome of matches more than it does in other sports. Let's go through some of the biggest reasons why rain stops play.

1. Excess rain dampens the deck

Hardened ground, the wicket/pitch, is the medium on which cricket is played, and therefore maintaining that hardness allows for good game play. The state of the wicket greatly influences how the ball behaves, and rain magnifies the difference between Team A's batting conditions to Team B's.

 

In football, grounds are condemned for play if they are lumpy-bumpy. Potato fields, as some would call them, affect the quality of the match and therefore officials would rather deem the ground not suitable for a match than have players endure it.

The same applies in cricket. Rain, obviously, softens the ground, thereby undoing the entire premise upon which the game is built. The softer the playing area, the lower the bounce that can be extracted from the leather ball, up until ultimately the ball can barely bounce above the sheen because of excessive dampness. 

 

If it gets too damp it becomes virtually impossible to bowl a delivery without the ball bouncing multiple times before it gets to the batsman's end and most likely rolls to the wicket keeper.

2. Gives unfair advantage

In drizzling conditions, play can resume because it's assumed the light rain won't 'significantly' affect play. However, if the drizzle becomes constant, more often than not, you'll see umpires calling off play. This is because the sustained drizzle builds up dampness and it gives an unfair advantage to one side.

 

Unlike in football, basketball, hockey, etc where both teams play the same phase of the game at the same time, in cricket, teams play different phases of the game at different times. 

Let me explain... 

In single-phase sports, weather conditions affect both teams the same way. Team A endures the same amount of wind as Team B, the same slippery ground, the same wet outfield, et cetera. It is therefore deemed a fair match as both teams experience the same difficulties at the same time of play. 

Hypothetically, if it were to rain on only half a side of a tennis court while it was bone dry on the other half, surely the umpire would have to stop play. That's an uneven playing field. One team will benefit more than the other.

 

In cricket, teams play at different phases. One gets to bat first and then the other gets to bat a few hours later. One gets to bowl first and then the other gets to bowl a few hours later. This means that conditions under which the second team bats or bowls will be different to those faced by the first team.

 

As you can imagine, rain significantly affects the magnitude of the difference between batting/ bowling conditions. If one team bats in the rain whilst another bats in dry conditions surely the result will definitely be significantly skewed by the weather.

3. Dampens the outfield

Speaking of unfair advantages, a damp outfield is never a good thing for the batting side. Paddles of water scattered throughout the ground will impede the ball as it is racing towards the boundary, hence lowering the number of runs that can be accumulated.

Also, a damp outfield is a slippery one. Slippery outfields pose danger to the fielders as serious injuries can occur.

4. Wet ball

When a cricket ball acquires moisture it becomes harder to grip, especially for the spinners, hence making it harder for the bowling side. 

A few misfields and dropped catches can occur as well, because it will be like playing around with a bar of soap on a rainy day.

5. Poor visibility

It goes without saying that visibility is imperfect whenever it rains, regardless of whether you are driving, taking a stroll, or playing cricket. 

 

It's harder for batsmen to score runs when ball visibility is poor, especially against pacey bowlers. This is why in some games, especially test matches, when the lighting is poor the umpires will tell the fielding team's captain that he/she can only use slower bowlers. The captain can opt to bring in the spin bowlers and the game resumes or they can opt to deny the umpire's request and the game will be stopped, reason being bad light. 

Cricket's nature, i.e played with a hard ball moving at rapid pace, good visibility is paramount as it can save players from career and life-threatening injuries.