The incident occurred two balls into the seventh over of Sri Lanka’s innings, moments after they lost their first wicket when Dimuth Karunaratne was run out for 9 by Olly Stone’s direct hit from the covers.
Kusal Mendis came in at No. 3 to face his first ball, but with an increase in cloud cover between deliveries, Joel Wilson and Chris Gaffaney decreed it was now too dark for quick bowling, albeit Woakes’ average speed in this Test match has been in the region of 80mph.
The decision was met with a chorus of boos from a capacity Oval crowd, as well as bemusement in the commentary box. Michael Atherton declared on Sky Sports that “the game’s gone mad” as Woakes served up a first-ball long-hop that Mendis pulled to deep midwicket for a single, then added “oh, that’s filth” as Woakes’ next delivery pitched three feet outside off stump.
Joe Root reacted with an amused raise of the eyebrows, while Ben Stokes – on the England balcony – gesticulated his disbelief before turning to walk into the dressing room.
A third-ball long-hop was then dragged for four by Pathum Nissanka, meaning that the interlude cost England six runs from four balls. The farce was then compounded moments later, when the cloud cover rolled away, and Gus Atkinson, England’s fastest bowler on show, was permitted to continue after a subsequent light-meter reading.
It was the third time in as many Tests that Ollie Pope, England’s stand-in captain, had been required to make a decision about how England responded to the umpires’ concerns.
Pope then chose to stay on the field while the light faded once more after tea on the second afternoon at The Oval, with Bashir, Dan Lawrence and Joe Root bowling 17 consecutive overs of spin in the final session, as Sri Lanka again capitalised through Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis, who added 118 unbeaten runs for the sixth wicket before the umpires took the players off for good.
According to Law 2.7.1, which pertains to bad light and other weather-related issues, “it is solely for the umpires together to decide whether either conditions of ground, weather or light or exceptional circumstances mean that it would be dangerous or unreasonable for play to take place”.
However, the law subsequently adds: “Conditions shall not be regarded as either dangerous or unreasonable merely because they are not ideal.”
The Woakes incident followed on from a frustrating opening day of the contest, which featured a near three-hour delay from 12.18pm to 3.10pm, in which barely a drop of rain fell but a dense layer of cloud cover prevented a resumption. Play was then suspended again at 5.54pm, and abandoned shortly before 6.30pm, with just 44.1 of the day’s scheduled 90 overs possible.
Speaking at the close of the opening day, however, Ben Duckett defended the decision, and argued that England’s batting – led by his 86 from 79 balls and a first home-ground century for Pope – had given the fans their money’s worth.
“I think they saw quite a good day’s cricket in the short amount of time there was,” Duckett said. “That’s living in England and playing cricket in England, they’re the conditions. It’s very easy to sit there as a supporter and want to see more cricket but if it does get really dark and more dangerous, we’re the ones out there playing.”
Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket
