Cricket: Wet weather brings talk of reserve days

The rain cloud that has faithfully followed the New Zealand cricket side around this 'summer' will likely see the return of reserve days next season.

New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan could only look on in despair as rain ruined any chance of a result on Friday night in Wellington.

While NZC is insured against gate receipts and the non-delivery of live programming to its broadcast partner in India, Sony Entertainment Television, there are intangibles you cannot insure against.

Principle among those is the goodwill of the public. The impetus and profile of the tour engendered by the Twenty20 internationals has dissipated in the rain at Napier and Wellington.

The forecast is mainly fine for Christchurch today, though showers are expected to pass through in the evening.

"It's really hard to factor in reserve days," Vaughan said. "Logistically they're a bit of a nightmare for the teams, the broadcasters and also ticketholders who might not be free to come back the following day.

"It's not ideal but after the events of this summer we're going to have to look seriously at reserve days."

Australia has also not been immune to unsatisfactory results. The final Chappell-Hadlee one-dayer at Brisbane was heading for a grandstand finish before a rainstorm ended any chance of New Zealand reclaiming the trophy.

Questions were asked then why such a high-profile encounter such as a series decider could not be continued, or replayed, the following day, especially when the next scheduled match was a largely meaningless Twenty20 international at Sydney.

BIG MATCHES AFFECTED BY RAIN

1st test v West Indies, rain affected, drawn.

2nd test v West Indies, rain affected days 2 and 3, drawn.

1st ODI, Queenstown, rain, no result.

2nd ODI, Christchurch, rain affected, WI win on D/L method.

4th ODI, Auckland, rain, no result.

5th ODI, Napier, rain affected, NZ win on D/L method.

State Twenty20 final, Dunedin, rained out.

1st ODI v India, Napier, rain affected, India win by D/L method.

2nd ODI v India, Wellington, rain, no result.