Twenty20 / Frank Gregan / 07 September 2009 /

Did the second T20 at Old Trafford have to be cancelled? Frank Gregan doesn't think so

It would appear that normal service has been resumed. No, I'm not talking about the Australians gaining control of the one-day series, I'm on about the abysmal way that cricket treats its paying public. The debacle last week at Old Trafford was shameful, everyone connected with the abandonment of the second Twenty20 match should hang their heads in shame.

There was a full house awaiting an unusually late start which had created a party atmosphere. There was a great sense of anticipation amongst the Old Trafford crowd who lost their Ashes Test match. After the weather killed the first Twenty20 but it looked as if the second one would make up for it and of course, it was winner takes all.

Manchester had endured thunderstorms during the afternoon and there was a good deal of surface water on the pitch. The ground staff did a first class job and play looked certain to go ahead. It didn't, the game was abandoned without a ball being bowled because one end was deemed too dangerous for the fast bowlers to be running into.

Pathetic, absolutely pathetic! Here's a thought, don't bowl your fast bowlers from that end or how about you get your fast bowlers to come in off a shorter run and bowl within themselves. The arrogance and contempt shown to cricketing supporters is mind boggling. Paul Collingwood said after the game was called off, "you can't play on surfaces which could damage careers." Why not? Footballers and rugby players do so every week.

In these days of health and safety and 'where there's a schmuck there's a buck', what used to be called a pitch inspection is now a risk assessment. Another classic quote from Collingwood was "the umpires came up to us and said they think its (the outfield) unfit for international cricket."

Talk about being right up themselves! It was Twenty20 for goodness sake, a hit and a giggle as the Aussies like to call it, baseball on speed to entertain the crowd for a few hours. The relationship between Twenty20 and Test cricket, where it is accepted the conditions need to be nigh on perfect, is about as close as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is to opera!

The irony is, whilst they weren't up for playing in a bit of surface water the England team continues to persist with playing football as part of their warm up routine. James Anderson, Matt Prior and now newcomer Joe Denly have all been injured whilst trying to emulate Ronaldo and Rooney. It's not nuclear physics, the chances of picking up a career threatening injury are much higher when playing a contact sport that you are rubbish at. The English cricket team would be much better off doing what they are paid to do, playing cricket and if the outfield is a little boggy - adapt!

The third ODI is on Wednesday at the Rose Bowl in Southampton. It's a track I know a bit about, I played there earlier in the summer, there's a golf course on the complex! It's very early in the trading cycle but it looks like the Australians will be [1.66] to back with England at [2.5]. It's hard to recommend England given their last two performances, so once again Australia are the recommendation but watch the in-play market and take advantage of a bigger Aussie price if England win the toss and make a decent start as they did yesterday.

The seventh and final game of this one-day series is to be played on 20th September at the Riverside in County Durham. Collingwood and Co will have more to worry about than the odd damp patch up there at this time of year. There'll be penguins, polar bears and brass monkeys - with no need for cricket boxes - to contend with!

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