Hussain, Prior slam ‘lack of urgency’ during rain-hit Test

Former England wicketkeeper-batsman Matt Prior and ex-captain Nasser Hussain were left frustrated by the lack of urgency, from the umpires and players, to get the game back on during the second Test between England and Pakistan in Southampton.    

Only 96.2 overs have been bowled over the first four days, with the match badly affected by rain and bad light.

“Everyone has been in quarantine, countries have flown over… people have been in a bubble for weeks…,” said Hussain. “When you have the opportunity to play and the world is watching, do everything you can to stay on and not have the old mindset of going off.”

“It is time we changed our mindset as a sport. The ECB, even if we play all our cricket this summer, could be a hundred million pounds down. We can’t afford to lose spectators that are desperate to watch cricket,” he added.   

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Meanwhile, Prior urged the need for change rather than going through the motions.

"In normal circumstances, the umpires would go through the motions as they have done here, take their light readings, and that is all fair enough," said Prior. "But we are not in normal times.”

"Everyone has worked so hard to get this Test match on, Pakistan's players have done everything in order to get out here and, therefore, there needs to be that urgency - from the umpires, from the players as well,” he added. "I think we've fallen into a bit of a state of, 'Oh well, these are the rules, we'll live by the rules, it's a bit dark and a bit wet, so we won't play'. I don't think that's adaptable enough to the new world we live in now."