Umpires ripped as crowd boos 'farcical' delay

Umpires Paul Reiffel and Paul Wilson have come in for criticism for allowing a rain delay in the first session at the SCG to drag into a fourth hour after showers stopped play in the first session.

Will Pucovski and Marnus Labuschagne had their progress halted with the score at 1/21 as rain swept across the SCG soon after David Warner was dismissed for five.

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However, the delay in play continued long after the rain cleared and the sun came out, with the two umpires unhappy with a patch of turf on the edge of the pitch that they said was too soft under-foot.

That response sparked a wave of criticism for the two umpires for failing to identify the problem area earlier and for leaving long gaps between pitch inspections.

The commentary team for Fox Cricket was scathing and the crowd voiced its displeasure with boos and whistles after Reiffel and Wilson ordered the ground staff to work to dry the wet patch following a 2.30pm pitch inspection.

https://twitter.com/ScottBaileyAAP/status/1347024110983942146?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/ChloeAmandaB/status/1347016534116323330?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

"I've seen bollards move quicker than this," said Kerry O'Keeffe as the two umpires walked onto the field.

"(Groundsmen) have been driving around with the rope for half an hour, they're getting giddy, they're going to run out of petrol in a minute," added Mark Waugh.

" ... This is where the game lets itself down, seriously. There's a packed house in, let's get on with it. Unless the bowler's going to slip over in his foot marks, I can understand that, or the ball gets entirely wet and you've got to change the ball every two overs, I can understand why you wouldn't be playing, but apart from that..."

https://twitter.com/MeganHustwaite/status/1347026745111703553?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/MarkGottlieb/status/1346990225055043584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

When quizzed about the area of concern, Reiffel told Fox Cricket the umpires were worried about the bowlers' run up, with the soft turf in an area where bowlers could potentially launch from to get into their delivery stride.

Reiffel added that it would take a further 20 minutes to get the pitch dry, with the game to restart once some saw dust had been applied to the trouble area.

Day one play was eventually restarted at 3pm (AEDT), with the tea break pushed back to 4.40pm (AEDT).

from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/cricket/umpires-criticised-over-rain-delay-australia-vs-india-scg-test/c47de6d1-f01f-455a-901c-6ee38f3355aa