Collingwood dismisses rain farce criticisms
Paul Collingwood unhappy about yesterday's 30-minute innings break
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Thursday, 19, Jun 2008 10:00
Paul Collingwood has rejected criticisms that England were saved from defeat by rain in last night's one-day international at Edgbaston.
The match was called off by umpires Steve Davies and Ian Gould because of heavy rain just one over before a result would have been possible under the Duckworth-Lewis method.
Brendon McCullum was undefeated on 60 after 19 overs with the Kiwis on 127-2, needing just seven runs to secure a win in the next six balls.
England skipper Collingwood pointed out to the BBC that had his bowlers taken a wicket his side would have been ahead on Duckworth-Lewis.
"I know it was near the cut-off point but both sides were in with a chance and if we had played another four overs it would have been farcical," he explained, pointing to the heavy weather which was settling in.
"It's obviously unfortunate but those are the rules of the game. There's time allocated and we should have got the overs in but unfortunately we didn't.
New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori criticised England for not getting through their overs quickly enough, but this has been rejected by match referee Javagal Srinath.
"That is an opinion from a player and I understand that coming from Vettori. The umpires did a commendable job in handling the situation today," Srinath said.
"It was a brave decision by the umpires. It wasn't easy in the centre to come off. But as soon as they were walking back to the pavilion, it rained heavily."
Pundits saved most of their criticism for the decision to keep the innings break at 30 minutes despite the shortened nature of the match.
Players had already had lunch before the game began, leaving Collingwood in full agreement.
"The biggest disappointment of the day is that when you've got a shortened game like that, to have a 30-minute break between innings surprised us," he explained.
"We were ready to go out in ten or 15 minutes and it seemed to be a shame to have 30 minutes. It's in the regulations and obviously you can’t change it so that needs to be looked at."
England lead the five-match series 1-0, with three fixtures to play. The third ODI takes place on Saturday in Bristol.