Tour Match; South Africa 'A' v Indians at East London, 10-13 Nov 2001 CricInfo Live Report

Tour Match; South Africa 'A' v Indians at East London, 10-13 Nov 2001
Peter Robinson

Pre-game: Day2 - Delay, Day 2 - Drizzle,
Live Reports from previous days

DRIZZLE KEEPS INDIA IN THE DRESSING ROOM IN EAST LONDON

Drizzle at Buffalo Park prevented the scheduled 11.30am inspection of conditions from taking place as the prospects receded of any play taking place on the second day of the four-day match between India and the South African A team in East London on Sunday.

The whole of the first day’s play was lost because of a damp outfield and overnight rain left the ground in a similar condition on Sunday morning. If play does not start on Sunday, the Indian’s will have lost five out of a possible five days’ play in their two first-class matches outside the Test series in South Africa.

The possibility also arises that players such as Connor Williams, brought to South Africa as a contender for a position as a Test opening bat, may go through his entire tour without setting foot on the field.

With the drizzle still falling and the covers on the pitch, the umpires ordered an early lunch. It was not clear when a decision might be made either to wait for a break in the weather or call of play for the day.

STILL NO PLAY IN INDIA TOUR MATCH

Yet more overnight rain delayed play on the second day of India’s four-day match against a South African A team at Buffalo Park in East London on Sunday.

After the first day’s play had been called off without a ball being bowled, more rain fell in East London on Saturday night saturating an already soggy outfield. The umpires were due to make a further inspection of the conditions at 11.30am with a view to play starting at around 1pm, but this seemed an optimistic view of things.

Both teams are anxious to get on the field to play, but there are several damp patches within a 30m radius of the table which would make fielding both dangerous and uncertain. To further lessen the chances of play, locals predicted that the wind directions and cloud cover might well blow further rain in during the day.