No play on Day Two

No play on Day Two
MICKY AIGNER

PUNE, JANuary 1: The rain gods had some pity and kept away, however the aftermath of its one-day presence still prevailed at the Nehru Stadium, on Monday. For the second consecutive day the England U-19-West Zone warm-up encounter failed to get started, owing to a wet and slippery outfield, in spite of a full day of sunshine.

With the earnest groundstaff batting all day with mopping up activities play officially was called off at 12.30 p.m by umpires Tej Handu and Sashank Ranade.Two more inspections at 2.00 p.m and 3.00 p.m resulted in some outcome as the verdict of ‘‘getting on with the match’’ was sounded at the end of the day.

According to Avinash Ghatpande, Honorary Secretary Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) both teams would play a 50-over-per-side one-day encounter, beginning at 9.00 a.m on Tuesday. ‘‘The ground was drying out well and based on the final inspection we could deliver this verdict,’’ was how Ghatpande explained the situation.

Meanwhile, with ‘no play’ being the verdict the visitors after grabbing afternoon brunch were off to the Shirke grounds, which has been their practice ground till now, for some warming up. ‘‘The decision was mutually decided by both teams managements,’’ informed Ghatpande on converting a non-starter of a match into something.

Both coaches Tim Boon (England) and Vilas Godbole (West Zone) were visibly happy to have a match after all. ‘‘We are looking forward to the game one-day or three-day a match is a match,’’ was an overheard statement made by Tim.