BRISTOL, England, CMC – Yorkshire head coach Ottis Gibson said Saturday he was “bitterly disappointed” after his side’s Division Two County Championship match against Gloucestershire was abandoned without a ball bowled.
The first two days were rained off, and even though the weather improved significantly on Saturday’s third day, match officials ruled playing conditions would not be suitable for play even on Sunday’s final day.
“There’s been a lot of weather down here, even before we got here, and we knew that. But, especially today when the sun’s out and it’s cricket weather, to call the game off is very disappointing,” the former West Indies head coach said.
“On Wednesday, we might struggle for a couple of days. I thought today and tomorrow. We might get some cricket. But the rain yesterday didn’t help the groundsman at all.
“The outfield’s quite soggy in places, and there’s an issue at the top end (Ashley Down Road End) where there’s a drain going across – where the bowlers would most likely take off from. That’s very wet.”
He added: “The umpires feel that, since Wednesday, it has not dried up. If anything, it’s got worse.
“They don’t feel that it would be fit for a first-class game even with dry weather today and tomorrow. That’s why it’s been called off.”
Yorkshire, who feature West Indies one-day captain Shai Hope in their rankings, were hoping to get on the park, especially after their opening loss to Leicestershire at Leeds last week.
Instead, each team was handed five points for the abandonment, leaving them both playing catch-up early in the season.
Yorkshire takes on Sussex at Hove in their next game, which will be the last for the 29-year-old Hope, who signed on for the first three matches of the season.
“We have a lot more cricket to play, and while we’re disappointed with this, we’ll just look forward to what’s to come rather than dwelling too much on this,” said Gibson.
“The lads have hit a lot of balls in the indoor nets. We’ve done all sorts of other things. The lads have played padel tennis, and some of them went to an escape room yesterday. I need to get feedback on how that went!
“We’ve done all the normal things cricket teams do when the rain falls. That’s one of the things you get a lot of experience of in England.”
He added: “But to have the whole game washed out, I can’t ever remember being involved in one like this. This one might be a first for me.”
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