Ten Doeschate accepted that conditions were not fit but he said: “I don’t want to get myself into trouble, but we keep getting told about Test and division one grounds [with better drainage]. To come here, I understand they’ve had a lot of rain but we haven’t seen a drop in the 30-odd hours we’ve spent at the ground. It’s not fit, but we haven’t seen any work going on – no Super Sopper on, no forking.
“I don’t understand why there has been a drive for them to preserve their outfield. What’s the fear with creating mud when they don’t have another game here until Friday? Fair enough if they’d given it a good crack and I’d seen guys out there working around the clock. You can accept that. That would be my only gripe.”
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/ ... ampionshipMight have stopped raining on Friday morning, but 20mm fell on Thursday on top of already saturated land. After attending the Bradford v Shrewsbury game on Thursday evening (played on a saturated pitch), I thought it was pointless going to Headingley the next day because everywhere is sopping wet and temperatures were just too oppressed, even to dry laundry let alone a cricket field.
Maybe Yorkshire's groundstaff didn't want to touch the affected area because Headingley is hosting a test match in six weeks time. Headingley does not have the largest of outfields and every bit of pitch is used for international matches.
If Essex were so keen on playing, why didn't they offer to reverse the fixtures? The weather would have been a lot better in Chelmsford for starters.