Nasser Hussain has criticised the umpires for curtailing the third day of the second Test between England and Pakistan in sunny conditions.
Saturday’s play was heavily affected by the weather as rain fell in London, with only 24.5 overs possible amid a series of heavy showers as England swelled their lead to 357 runs.
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The players were taken from the field for the final time just before 10 past five local time, with stumps called due to “bad light” at 6.30pm BST – with another hour of play in theory possible.
The decision of umpires Paul Reiffel and Allahuddien Paleker was met with boos from parts of the sparse crowd that remained with bright sunshine hitting the ground soon afterwards.
And former England captain was not impressed.
“That’s a joke, honestly a joke,” Hussain said on Sky Sports.
“I earlier said how good the umpires have been. These fans have waited all afternoon for it to stop raining. It’s now bright. There’s blue sky in the distance. That is an unbelievable decision, it really is.
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“In about five minutes’ time it’s going to be sunny here.”
With fewer than 30 overs bowled, ticket-holders for day three will be entitled to a 50 per cent refund. If 30 overs had been completed, spectators would not have been entitled to any money back.
England will resume with the forecast better for day four on 177/7, 357 ahead of Pakistan and closing in on an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-Test series.
“It would have been a tricky 40 minutes to go out there and bat,” said Dan Lawrence, who made an unbeaten 50.
“It’s nice to have a good sleep and think about how I’m going to play in the morning. I can imagine it will be with the same intent and trying to push the game forward.
“Forty minutes of batting at 6.45pm is never an ideal thing.”
