By Paul Homewood
h/t Grammarschoolman
There was a time when ex Aussie captain Ian Chappell seemed to have his head screwed on. Unfortunately his brains must have been scrambled by too much sun, judging by this piece he has written for ESPN:
The recent Ashes series was extremely entertaining and created a lot of excitement among cricket fans. The upcoming three-Test series between India and South Africa promises to be another hard-fought contest.
This paints a healthy picture of a format riding the crest of a popularity wave. However, closer inspection of the five-day game indicates there are some serious challenges ahead.
Two of the biggest concerns are the effect of the T20 game and climate change on the longer version…..
The effects of climate change on the game are a major concern, and the solutions rely on decisive action being taken by some annoyingly reticent politicians.
For starters, drastic increases in temperature will add to the health dangers for players. There’s nothing more frustrating than a game delayed by rain, but imagine if players are off the field because the sun burns too brightly.
That is the reality if temperatures keep rising; players will need to be protected from heat stroke or more lasting skin-cancer damage. In a litigious era, cricket boards will need to proceed with caution. It’s no wonder day-night matches are considered critical to Test cricket’s future.
Then there is the concern of rising sea levels and more ferocious weather events like devastating tornadoes and cyclones. There’s also the damaging effect of reduced rainfall, which has already seen one Test-match city – Cape Town – come perilously close to running out of water in recent years. Water is integral to the proper preparation of suitable pitches, but that, of course, will remain well down the list of priorities when compared with the life or death of citizens.
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/27723702/cricket-needs-take-climate-change-seriously
It’s hard to know where to start with such drivel! But I’ll try.
1) What on earth does the sun burning brightly have to do with climate change? And, for that matter, what has skin cancer got to with temperature?
2) If it really is getting so much hotter, then what is wrong with playing cricket earlier in the summer?
3) Rising sea levels? I’m certainly not aware of any major cricket grounds at risk of flooding from a few inches of sea level rise.
4) Cyclones? According to the BOM, Australia has seen a marked reduction in cyclone activity since the 1970s, notably severe ones:
http://www.bom.gov.au/cyclone/climatology/trends.shtml
Play stopped by tornadoes? I think not.
5) Drought? In fact rainfall in Australia has been increasing since the period prior to 1970:
6) As for Cape Town’s drought, even at its height, South Africa played a test against India there, and won:
On every single count, Ian Chappell is wrong.
via NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
September 29, 2019 at 11:39AM
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