Impact of climate change on cricket

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Cricket has always been a sport at the mercy of the weather.

In the 1930s, county cricket clubs in England were headed for financial ruin after a succession of wet summers. Twenty years later, persistent rain saw desperate clubs experiment with blankets, rubber mats and suction machines.

As recently as the summer of 2012, three of England’s 13 ODIs were abandoned due to rain, while no result was possible in two of their seven Test matches with West Indies and South Africa.

That’s why the sport must take notice of a report published by Climate Coalition, the UK’s largest climate change action group, in February.

The document names cricket as the sport that will be hardest hit by climate change in England, stating that "wetter winters and more intense summer downpours are disrupting the game at every level".

That was reiterated by Glamorgan Head of Operations Dan Cherry, who warned that climate change could "fundamentally change the game".

"The less cricket we play, the fewer people will watch it, the less they will come to the ground and pay to enter, the less chance there is for young people to be inspired," said Cherry.

This change, it seems, has already begun.

In international cricket, 27 per cent of England’s home one-day internationals since 2000 have been played with reduced overs because of rain delays. The rate of rain-affected matches has more than doubled since 2011, with five per cent of matches abandoned completely.

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