First day of Gopalan Trophy abandoned

Yesterday's sunshine proved to be a false dawn and no play was possible today in the Gopalan Trophy. Play looked set to start when a heavy shower drenched the already saturated ground. At 3.30pm the Umpires, Wijewardane and Gamini Silva, decided that enough was enough and abandoned play for the day.

The good news is that the weather forecast, from both CNN and the BBC, forecast clear weather for the next couple of days. Such forecasts are admittedly often inaccurate, but there is at least hope that this tour won't be entirely washed out.

Even if the teams do decide to play, they will have to make do with a sub-standard outfield, which is excessively soft underfoot. Were they to wait for this to dry then the South Indians may well miss the start of the Ranji Trophy in October.