Even allowing for the fact that starting the Twenty20 Cup the same week as Wimbledon is straight out of the “Tempting Fate” textbook, no one could have imagined the havoc this June weather would have wreaked on county cricket’s showpiece competition.

Angst-ridden commercial directors at many of the eighteen county clubs will be crunching numbers, adjusting forecasts and racking their brains for initiatives that might salvage potential washouts. Water polo at New Road? An impromptu sing-along with Sir Cliff at Lord’s?

As a player you are aware of the financial implications of abandoning big games – or at least you should be – but ultimately you have to concentrate on performing when you do get the chance. Dealing with sustained periods of bad weather is not straightforward, however. Restricted to indoor facilities - often pre-booked for a district 5-a-side competition or by a bunch of foreign students looking to shoot some hoops – practice bears little resemblance to what you’ll encounter on slow, damp, seaming surfaces out in the middle.

Not knowing whether a game will start is mentally draining. Most professional players will have set warm-ups and routines to follow before the battle commences. When time is of the essence, though, as is the case with a rain delay in Twenty20, umpires can start or resume play at a moment’s notice.

The trick is not to be caught off guard. While there is no point all eleven players staring out the window waiting for the rain to stop, it’s important that you want to get out there and that you’re mind is ready for any scenario. There is a danger that players enjoy rain just a little too much. In the context of a long season, where the aching joints need a rest, this is understandable. Getting paid to play cards with your mates can also seem more appealing than having to stick your neck out and perform in front of a crowd and the media spotlight. Psychologically, it’s important you don’t let your mind get lazy.

Middlesex, Northants and Leicestershire, the defending champions, have each had three games abandoned in the South, Mid/Wales/West and North groups respectively. Taking three points from three games keeps a team in contention but every subsequent game feels like you’re in a knockout situation as the stakes have in effect been heightened. Some teams respond well to this type of pressure, others can be stifled by it. Ed Smith, the Middlesex captain, is confident his team will perform if the weather abates. “We identified that we could play Twenty20 well and could qualify from our group,” he said. “Unfortunately a brilliant innings by Mark Ramprakash has beaten us in one game and the weather has won three. We obviously need to win but for that to happen we need to be playing”.

Only three matches in the south group have been abandoned, all involving Middlesex and the irony will not be lost on Smith that Surrey, Middlesex’s near neighbours, have managed to complete all their five fixtures, only having to reduce overs in their home game against Hampshire.

Fourteen matches have now been lost to the weather in the space of eleven days. Compare 2003, Twenty20’s inaugural year, when the competition enjoyed three weeks of uninterrupted sunshine and new cricket fans lapped it all up in their thousands.

Crowd trouble

There have been calls for increased security at Twenty20 matches following crowd disturbances at several of this year’s matches. Peter Willey, the former international umpire has added his voice to that of Robert Croft, the Glamorgan and former England off spinner, suggesting that security needs to be stepped up especially at out grounds before someone gets seriously hurt.

Speaking to Ivo Tennant, Willey said he would be writing to the ECB to urge them to go down the professional security route. “This has happened because the weather has been so bad," Willey said. "Spectators have sat around drinking pints and perhaps the information they have been given over the tannoy has not been as good as it should have been. There might be some clubs who will be reluctant to employ security guards, but how expensive is a life?”

Having watched Kent’s home match against Essex a week ago, I sympathise with Willey’s view. Umpires Neil Mallender and Barry Dudlestone were subjected to the most appalling verbal abuse for reducing a game severely affected by rain to five overs and needed to be escorted from the field.

The ECB have responded to that situation at Kent, where the game finished under bright blue skies, by allowing an extra hour for a game to be completed. Let’s hope they respond as quickly on the subject of security.

The big clean-up

It’s staggering to think that Worcestershire expect to host Kent at New Road for a championship match in just a few days time. The ground has been under two foot of water for several days after the river severn burst its banks but club officials believe if everyone pulls together – and that includes members, who are being asked to lend a hand – the ground will be ready.

According to the club’s website, “anybody who can help is asked to bring a bucket, hard bristle broom (if possible), cloths & sponges and their marigolds! If each person cleaned 50 seats and others a few fences, it wouldn’t take long.”

Commendable as this undoubtedly is, I wouldn’t want to be facing the first ball of the match on Sunday, knowing the ground had been underwater just a week earlier. It could be a good toss to win!

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