Tom Latham Optimistic Of Getting Full Five Days Of Play As The Reserve Day Could Come Into The Picture

New Zealand opener Tom Latham remains not much bothered by the first-day washout of the ICC World Test Championship final in Southampton. The fans had prepared themselves for an exciting first day of the ICC Test Championship final between India and New Zealand; however, it went the opposite way. But with a reserve day scheduled, Tom Latham believes they could still get full five days of play.

Until Friday, Southampton was brimming with sunshine and brightness. England had already copped criticism as it’s known for its notorious and unpredictable spells of heavy rain. The fans had to endure the same ahead of the inaugural Test Championship final at the Ageas Bowl. The showers did stop momentarily; however, it restarted. Thus, the officials had no choice but to call off the first day’s play without even the toss taking place.

The play could begin at 10:30 AM local time (03:00 PM IST) on Saturday, depending upon the weather. Tom Latham admitted it was disappointing; however, he called for the need to adapt to these circumstances as these things are uncontrollable. Thus, Latham hopes that the reserve day comes to the play it is well utilized and expects New Zealand to be ready when it’s time to go.

“Yeah, I would say it’s disappointing, the rain today. It was forecast, unfortunately, but I guess it’s just one of those things that as cricketers you need to adapt, and unfortunately, that’s something we can’t control. For us it’s just about waiting, and then when we get the opportunity to come on, making sure we’re ready to go, and I guess there is day 6, as well, so there is a little bit of extra time that we can use then,” Latham said as quoted by Times Now.

Hopefully, the weather clears and both teams will be looking forward to getting out there: Tom Latham

Tom Latham also believes that it’s the right decision to keep a reserve day since weather conditions are uncontrollable and hopes to force a result. The southpaw expects for the rains to clear out as he reckons both teams are eager to get out there.

“Yeah, I guess looking at the weather that we’ve got out there at the moment, it’s obviously a great decision. Obviously, we can’t control that, so it’s great that there’s the extra day, and hopefully, whatever happens, then there might be a result on that last day. It’s obviously great that we can hopefully get a full match in, and hopefully, the weather clears and both teams will be looking forward to getting out there,” the 29-year old added.

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