Decision Time

I hadn't bothered to write anything about what happened at Edgbaston on Wednesday as so many people had got there before me, from Ians Smith and Botham ranting away on Sky, to most fellow members of the Blogosphere. As most of them said, it was a 'farce', and one which reflected very poorly on the extent to which modern professional cricketers (and most umpires) appear to have any awareness at all that people have paid money to watch them perform and they have a duty to provide them with as much entertainment as possible.

The ICC's decision to allow umpires in further games in this series to shorten the innings break to ten minutes was remarkable. Not for what it was - as it made the uncomfortable sound of a stable door being shut well after the horse had legged it - but because it appeared to be a definite decision taken by the ICC on a matter of some, albeit transitory, importance.

Issues come and go - Zimbabwe, the ICL, the IPL, Stanford - and you barely hear a word from Dubai. A couple of their umpires cock it up (with substantial assistance from the England team) and they're straight in there.

Still, credit where credit's due. The ruling could come in handy, but, having seen the weather forecast for south-west England (where I'm due to be playing) tomorrow, I suspect there may not need to be an innings break at Bristol as there won't be any innings.