Of all the days to rain!

I think im gonna call it a night, its 3am over here... I hope it gets called off until tommorow cos i think a reduced overs match would be even worse.

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- VVVRulz..

he he!! I've also got a song with a 3 word title that has the word Aussie in it

On Channel 9 in Australia, Healy, Mark Taylor and O'Donnell discussed whether it would be better to use the reserve day rather than have a shortened match. O'Donnell was keen on using the reserve day if it got less than 40 overs a side. Taylor said he could live with a 30 over a side final. Healy suggested one side bat 40 overs today and the other side bats 40 overs tomorrow rather than getting down to a 20 over a side match. What do you think should be done?

One side should bat right through until the light fails today... and as much of tomorrow as they can manage... and then the other side should do the same... and then the first side should have another go... leading to a grand climax in which the side that bowled first gets to try and chase down a total with as many days available to them as it takes.

I believe the format is known as "Timeless Test" and it HAS to be better than 38 (or fewer) overs per side!

Follow the rules that are already in place.

Reserve day only in use if the game cannot be reasonably finished today

Give me 38 overs per side over a Timeless Test any day of the week.

Just for the record the match will be a 38 over a side match. No more rain is expected. The batsmen are at the crease. Play is about to start. Let's hope it's a good game.

Update: After Vaas' first over the commentators have observed that despite the overhead cloud cover the ball isn't swinging. Perhaps that is due to the dry pitch. The drainage of the ground is good with the outfield relatively dry despite the early rain.

The playing conditions have changed:

Only two power plays: 1x10 overs and 1x5 overs.

Only 3 bowlers can bowl a max of 8 overs.

No Lunch - change of innings is 10 mins.

So it is a batsman paridise today. considering it 38-overs per side, do you expect Australia to rake up 250+ on this pitch. If the ball isn't doing it for Vaas or Malinga, than it will go down to how the spinners Dilshan, Jayasuria but most importantly Murali do in this game. As it has been said by Nasser Hussian, taking Pace off the ball has been the key to winning matches in many cases, exception as it seems to Australia with Tait, McGrath, Bracken going nuts with wickets.

Gilchrist is going beserk in Vaas' second over. 12 runs taken from it including a six over midwicket.
The Aussies seem to be respecting Malinga's bowling and look to be targeting Vaas. Hard to say whether the Lankan spinners can exert more pressure on the Aussies. The pitch is really good for batting. Ponting said he expected the pitch to slow up during the match so the Aussies will be keen to score at a good run-rate to utelize the best of the batting conditions. Hogg should have conditions to suit him in the Sri Lankan innings. Tait could struggle if the pitch slows up and Bracken should be easy to play if the ball doesn't swing. McGrath could have an influence today.