Cricket an outdoor sport, should be played under sun as much as possible: NZ coach
Retractable roof stadiums could be an option but there’s no substitute to playing cricket under the sun as it makes the sport a spectacle, feels New Zealand coach Gary Stead.
Four matches in the recently-concluded T20 World Cup in neighbouring Australia were washed out while the fate of three were determined by the Duckworth-Lewis method, leading to a debate whether indoor cricket should be explored by the boards.
”It’s very difficult to have that in New Zealand, we don’t have grounds to be able to do that,” the 50-year-old Stead said after the second ODI against India was abandoned because of persistent showers.
In the six-match white-ball series in New Zealand, two matches (1st T20I in Wellington and Sunday’s ODI) were abandoned and one game (Napier T20I) was decided by DLS.
”I guess if there are grounds available then it has to be considered. I think it’s a spectacle that everyone tries, is considered an outside game and played in the sun as much we can. I think you still want to make that happen wherever possible,” the former Kiwi Test batter added.
The match was abandoned after a second rain interruption when India were 89 for one in 12.5 overs as there was no possibility of having a minimum 20-over per side match within the stipulated cut-off time.
The match was earlier reduced to 29-overs-a-side. New Zealand lead 1-0 going into the final ODI at Christchurch on Wednesday.
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