Cricket Australia boss Todd Greenberg hits out at 'archaic' bad light rules

A frustrated Cricket Australia chief Todd Greenberg on Monday vowed to raise concerns over what he described as “archaic” bad light rules with the sport’s governing body after nearly a third of the opening day at the fifth Ashes Test was washed out. Play was halted 15 minutes before the scheduled tea break on Sunday at the Sydney Cricket Ground, with almost 50,000 fans in attendance, due to fading light, light rain and lightning protocols.


No further action was possible, with stumps called an hour earlier than scheduled at 5:00 pm and the entire third session abandoned.



“There's a lot of things that I get frustrated with in cricket but bad light's one of them,” Greenberg told SEN radio.

“Yesterday, maybe more so than ever with a full house and millions watching on TV.

“We've got to find a better way in cricket ... where we try not to come off the field when it's bad light and show a greater willingness and intent to get back on.”

Under ICC regulations, play cannot resume if on-field umpires agree that light conditions are deemed “dangerous or unreasonable”. The rules also stipulate that play cannot restart until at least 30 minutes after lightning strikes in the area, a provision that left fans puzzled as action remained suspended despite improving conditions.

Greenberg admitted he did not have an immediate solution but said advancements such as light towers and modern technology suggested there had to be a better approach.

“What you can take from my comments is a desire to push at the global level of how we get better at these things because it felt like it wasn't good enough,” he said.

“I have talked about this a bit over the years, the nuance of cricket and some of the strange and archaic rules that sit within the sport.

“I'm sure there's conversations that can be had about how we can be slightly more progressive.

“I sound like a broken record, but we're in the entertainment business, and so I can't think of another business that continues to walk off in front of its fans.”

Former England captain Michael Vaughan also called for a change in “mindset” from match officials and administrators.

“In T20 cricket you play in this. Test cricket is the one format that we do everything we possibly can to get off the pitch,” Vaughan told the BBC.

“The other two formats we do everything we possibly can to get on the pitch. I just don't understand why we don't have that same mindset in Test match cricket.”