Mark Richardson: Keep a weather eye on the new one-day rules

This week saw the first demonstration of the new fielding restrictions and substitution rules in international one-day cricket but the England-Australia one-dayer wasn't ruled by the rules but a rule of thumb: the weather occasionally beats everybody.

Headingley, in Leeds, is a pitch more in line with New Zealand conditions. When the sky is overcast those sketchy batting conditions are exaggerated. It is a place where meteorological skill is as important to a captain as cricket know-how - and Michael Vaughan, experienced in the art of English weather-watching, bowled first and ruined any prospect of innovative use of the new rules.

With the ball seaming round, it made perfect sense to work through the mandatory 10 overs up front, when only two men are allowed outside the inner circle, and then it made even better sense to use up the optional overs (where the same restrictions apply) directly after the first lot and, hey presto, nothing's changed.

As for substitutions, common sense was again the order of the day. If bowling first, bowl your specialists and sub one for a specialist batsman once his 10 overs have been completed, as when Simon Jones walked from the field at the end of his 10 and Vikram Solanki came on - which, incidentally, was all he did.

If batting, first, play all your batsmen. Once the innings is over, one stays off and on comes a bowler.

Both teams opted for specialists in the "super-sub" positions. England went for batting power in Solanki and Australia extra bowling in Brad Hogg.

If Lord's, the venue for the second Natwest Challenge Series game, is anything like the bowler-helpful pitch it was for the final of the tri-series, expect more of the same. What will help increase the likelihood of these interesting scenarios is good batting conditions. Fingers crossed for the last ODI at the flat old Oval.

The rule changes will bring experimentation and interest for a honeymoon period before falling into a predictable pattern, just like the 50-over game did. But are the players in this series willing guinea pigs of this ICC experiment when, a week away, they enter the most important test series many will ever play?

Some have expressed their frustration at having to play yet another revenue-collecting ODI series. What both camps are interested in is whether Trescothick can find some confidence, Ponting can regain his form, Gillespie gets it in the right place and Strauss stops missing straight ones?

* Mark Richardson is in the UK playing cricket and Ashes-watching