Collingwood calls for change to rain rules

Frustrated England captain Paul Collingwood demanded change to the rain-affected games are decided after his team lost to West Indies in their shortened Twenty20 World Cup game on Monday. England batted superbly for a score of 191/5 from their 20 overs but a rain delay meant West Indies won by scoring just 60/2 from 5.5 overs. He said it is very frustrating, and 95% of the time they are going to win with a score of 191 but the Duckworth-Lewis method somehow changed that. The Duckworth-Lewis method is the established calculation system for reducing a target total in a game affected by rain delays in one-day games.

In the Twenty20 version of the game a match can have a result after five overs in an innings and the shorter spans can shift the balance heavily in favour of the team batting second. Collingwood said on Monday's game, where England lost scoring more than three times as many runs as their opponents, showed the system did not work in the shortest format. There is a major problem with Duckworth-Lewis for this form of the game.

West Indies captain Chris Gayle said he agreed with Collingwood that a review was needed. It was unfortunate for England to lose in this manner. He added it is something they need to address so it can be even for both teams. The day's other game was also decided after a rain-delay calculation. Sri Lanka batted first and made 173/7 while Zimbabwe made 29/1 from five overs before the rain came down.

Had Zimbabwe managed just 15 more runs in those opening overs they would have beaten Sri Lanka and eliminated them from the tournament. They knew that the weather was going to play a part and that 5 five could play a part so they decided to go hard. England can still make it to the Super Eight stage of the competition if they beat Ireland on Tuesday.