20 Oct 2015 | Cricket
A proposal to play tight matches to a finish under floodlights has been rejected by Test captains.
The proposal would have prevented England's frustration in Abu Dhabi at the end of the first Test against Pakistan, when play was ended with the tourists needing only another 25 runs in eight scheduled overs.
However teams were consulted by the ICC to see if there was a will to alter established playing conditions and continue playing in worsening light when a result is imminent.
ICC chief executive Dave Richardson revealed Test captains across the board, were not in favour of the idea on the grounds that it could bring unjust conclusions.
We have attempted in the past to say to the players 'Look, if you've got floodlights and they're good enough to use for Test cricket, we should just bite the bullet - and even if conditions aren't as good as they might be normally, we should play on and just finish the day's play or the match', he said.
However, that approach wasn't accepted by any of the teams really. They felt that would be unfair, and could lead to unjust finishes. So it's a problem we're still faced with.
Cook queried the decision to abandon play on Saturday evening after the first Test against Pakistan at Abu Dhabi ended in a draw, questioning with the floodlights on whether conditions were unfair or unsafe.
It was the captains on behalf of the players, said Richardson.
Some of the floodlights around the world don't add enough additional light to make it really worth a huge improvement with a red ball - so they said 'no, no, leave it in the hands of the umpires and let them decide'.
It's something that is unfortunate - we're trying to look for a solution, and frankly we're not quite there.