Just a week after the bad light fiasco that overshadowed the second Test between England and Pakistan, umpires are again under fire, this time for not taking the players from the field during the third Test at Southampton.
England dropped three catches in the final session on day three, in conditions described by spinner Dom Bess as "seriously dangerous" as the light faded.
Joe Root enforced the follow-on after Pakistan was bowled out for 273, a deficit of 310, but the umpires spared Pakistan further pain by calling an early stumps as the light deteriorated further.
James Anderson claimed 5-56 to move to 598 Test wickets, although the 38-year-old was left frustrated as Rory Burns, Zak Crawley and Stuart Broad all dropped chances off his bowling.
England spinner Dom Bess said conditions were so bad he couldn't see a pull shot from Pakistan's Azhar Ali, who top scored with an unbeaten 141.
"It's no excuse but it was really dark out there," he said.
"I was stood at square leg and Azhar pulled one off Jofra Archer and I did not see it. In all seriousness, if that is hit straight at me I genuinely don't know what I'm going to be doing.
"Playing in those conditions, we have to be switched on and thinking about player well-being. Because we've got a number 10 and a number 11 out there having to face Jofra in those conditions and it's seriously dangerous."
According to Bess, conditions were much worse than last week, when players were taken from the field.
"I think the light meter reading [today] was 430 [lux]. The game before when we came off it was about 700. Obviously we all want to be playing cricket but I think as well there's got to be a little bit more common sense in terms of players' wellbeing," Bess said.
"You take [Mohammad] Abbas, the number 11, you don't want to see them getting hit or anything like that, in terms of it being really dangerous."
Bess said he didn't think umpires Michael Gough and Richard Illingworth were influenced by the second Test debacle, after which Root said that the issue of bad light needed to addressed.
"Obviously we all want to be out there playing cricket, but again there's got to be a little bit more common sense in terms of when it is too dark," Bess said.
"I think if you get the meter readings out there, as we walked back on then it was 430 so I think that paints the picture.
"We are trying to get cricket played but from just my perspective on players' wellbeing, imagine if someone gets hit there and it is really serious. Say the number 10 or 11 gets hit by Jofra because we are out there - what happens then?
"I guess it's just calling out for a bit of common sense in terms of when it is too dark, we've got to go [off], and when it's not, we try and play because everyone wants to be out there."
from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/cricket/england-vs-pakistan-bad-light-seriously-dangerous-according-to-dom-bess/2b09f332-de2e-437c-900d-eb76e9a5f1eb
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