Cricket just cannot kick off in Japan: Asiad semifinals decided without playing a ball

Nagoya: Asian Games cricket fixtures were once again abandoned as torrential weather continued to disrupt the games being conducted. The quarterfinal fixtures were washed out due to rain, which saw Sri Lanka and Bangladesh advancing to the semifinals based on superior International Cricket Council T20I rankings without a ball being bowled. Sri Lanka were to play Nepal, while Bangladesh were set to face Malaysia in Wednesday’s quarterfinal fixtures.

Previously, the knockout battle between India and Afghanistan was abandoned for the same reason, and India advanced to the semifinal on Tuesday. Pakistan also qualified over Hong Kong without playing a ball, resulting in the final four of the competition being decided with no action as two consecutive matchdays were lost. This has denied a fair competitive opportunity for the Asian nations outside the conventional cricketing map to get something out of the game.

The Games organisers spent an entire year to convert a baseball diamond into a cricket pitch. The Games' sports director, Jarrad Shearer, was disappointed with the situation. "Cricket, like baseball, you can't play it in the rain. A year of my life on this, and it rains," Shearer said.

"Come tomorrow morning it will be all hands on deck to dry up the areas that aren't under the covers. We've got some soppers, we've got some squeegees, some big old brooms, we've got sponges. Plus, it's supposed to be sunny and 32 C, so with any luck we'll soak up as much water as we can in the morning and the sun will do its work in the afternoon," added an optimistic Shearer.

Sri Lanka will take on defending champions India, while Bangladesh face Pakistan in the semi-finals on Thursday.
(With Reuters input).