The wash-up of the wash-out? Australia lead 4-2 on points. England either need to win the Test, or draw the Test and win the ODIs 2-1. Australia would keep the trophy with a Test win. Here’s hoping both teams put aside the caginess of their recent encounters and go for it.
That’s it from us. Test time on Thursday. See ya.
And that, I’m afraid, is that. There will be no result. Would you like to know the last thing I got wrong? Forgot about the half hour time difference to Adelaide. So, it’s currently 15:37 where I am, but 15:07 in Adelaide.
Anyway, since they would need to be playing by 15:37, and they need half an hour to prepare the field once it stops raining, and it has not stopped raining, the match has been called.
Wrong time, location, weather, just as well they didn’t play any actual cricket because the scores would have been a disaster. Gary Sobers would have scored a nine from the minus second ball of Mae West’s 23rd over.
From the fog to the rain, Andrew in Adelaide writes in. “I find it odd, the 15:37 cut off. (By the way is the cut off really 4 minutes later than yesterdays game? Because it got under way?) I don’t know why they can’t go on further given the match hasn’t started. Assume it’s because we can’t clash with the BBL. God forbid we are allowed to choose which game to watch. Very frustrated, had been looking forward to going to these games. Hope you feel better!”
Thanks Andrew. You made me worried I had got the time wrong, along with the city and the wind direction, but 15:37 was what we were told by CA yesterday, and again today.
I don’t think it’s because of other TV scheduling, it’s probably more to do with only keeping the players ready, or the ground available, or staff in place, for a certain number of hours. Like you can’t ask players to be ready at 10am and not play until 10pm. But having a 2pm match start at 6pm doesn’t seem crazy. We wait that long in Test cricket all the time.
May be to do with floodlights too. Only having dispensation to turn them on for a certain number of hours per week or month, hence these being scheduled as day games where Thursday’s match was at night?
“Not just you, mate,” says Damian Clarke of the fog. “I just discovered that earlier I put my shoes out and polished the cat.”
We have 33 minutes until abandonment. No XIs were announced because the toss was not held, which means that no one gets a match added to their career tallies today. If they have the toss but don’t bowl a ball, those picked have still technically played a match.
It is definitely north to south. Even I know that top to bottom on a map is north to south.
We have the good oil right from the source now, David Crock.
“Keen Final Word listener here. I’m a meteorologist with BoM and am on duty today (albeit emailing in my personal capacity). Unsurprisingly your take on the radar is spot on, can’t see any play happening today. One point though - the rain is coming from the north. Very tropical and very very unusual for Adelaide at this time of year - desperately unlucky for CA to schedule three games there and have two washed out. Can confirm the forecast for Adelaide is spot on today.”
I thought I wrote north to south? Not having a good day today. I’m doing the OBO from my covid couch, and it seems that the brain-fog thing is spot on.
The radar is still crawling. There’s nothing further north of this current mass. If we were playing a night match we would be fine. I’m not sure why fixtures can’t be more flexible around rain.
Did you know that Idris Elba makes music? I did not, until it popped up on the radio about a month ago. The guy who is and will always be Stringer Bell from The Wire has been releasing some horn-heavy awright geezer jams.
This is apropos of nothing except that I’ve been playing this to death lately.
Personally, as you would have gathered, I am most interested in the Test match. But the three one-dayers will be very significant just ahead of the ODI World Cup. We haven’t had one for the women since 2017, which seems a lifetime ago. The current one was supposed to happen a year ago but got postponed. Now the host country, New Zealand, is starting to blow up with covid for the first time, and will still have a ten-day quarantine for arrivals in trying to stave that off.
The latest from over there:
Adrian Armstrong has sent me a very considerate email. “Don’t feel too embarrassed, Geoff. Could look much worse. The last time someone forgot that a game was in Adelaide, he left out Wood and Leach.”
Touché.
The TV is just replaying the first match, which has had a good workout this weekend since it was played.
What would a washout mean for the series? A points tally of 4-2, which for England would be like winning one and losing one after that opening thrashing. Not disastrous then. The Test match is worth four points for a win, then there are three ODIs worth two points each. Australia hold the trophy and would thus retain it if scores are level.
Can’t see us getting any play today. We have an hour and a quarter left to spare, and this is the rain coming from south to north.
And here are some quite special reflections from bowler Megan Schutt on almost a year away from the Australian team as she and her partner brought their very premature daughter into the world.
What do we have for you in the meantime? Here is Raf’s report on the first match, which it must be said was a doozy.
The Adelaide radar is a horrorshow. Giant banks of multicoloured wet stuff. It is dry in Canberra, dry in Melbourne, mostly dry in Sydney and Brisbane, and a lovely sunny day where I am in Hobart. Sigh.
Anyway, let’s talk about Canberra. Got a Test match there starting on Thursday. A daytime one, too, where most women’s Tests lately have been day-nighters. So it will be good to see the red ball in action. I’ll be there for the Guardian.
It also means two Tests for Australia in the space of four months, which should not need to be notable, but currently it is. Hopefully last September’s Test against India will mean more Tests against other touring teams in summers to come.
What do you know! The forecast for ADELAIDE is awful. Dross. Horrible. Up to 25mm of rain with 90% likelihood, and the chance of it clearing in the late afternoon. Cut-off time for this match is 3:37pm, so a fat lot of good late afternoon will do us.
Well, I can tell you why the forecast is wrong. It’s because I’ve been thinking about going to Canberra for the Test match this week, and I forgot that this match was in Adelaide. That’s smart.
There’s nothing on the radar, a few tiny flecks of cloud acne on the face of New South Wales. But somehow it is still managing to rain in Canberra. Stand by.
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In fact, the BOM forecast still does look fine. Mostly sunny, 5% chance of some rain. But that rain is currently happening over Manuka Oval.
Preamble
Hello, cricket nuffs. It is already time for game three of the T20 component of this multiformat Ashes series. The first match saw England make a very good score, then Australia pulverise it in reply. The second match yesterday was a washout in what is otherwise supposed to be a fairly dry week in Canberra. The forecast for today looks fine. Or so I thought...
Not so for Tayla Vlaeminck though. Australia’s fastest woman missed a lot of cricket starting in 2020 with a stress fracture in her foot. Now after a few matches back it has gone again. Awful news for her, with another missed World Cup coming up.
England need to find something in her absence today, otherwise they’ll be looking at a 5-1 points tally and a series already slipping away.
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