Alex Hartley says Women’s Cricket World Cup ‘ruined’ by ‘predicted’ Colombo rain

The World Cup is four years away, but if you’re a player or fan in Colombo, you’ve probably spent most of this tournament staring at the rain rather than enjoying a long-awaited game of cricket.

Five of the nine matches played in the Sri Lankan capital were affected by rain, with four ending scoreless, prompting former England player Alex Hartley to say the conditions had “ruined” the World Cup.

October is monsoon season on the island, with 300 to 370 mm of rain expected during the month.

Hartley, who won the tournament in 2017, told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I don’t really know what anyone was expecting to be completely honest. You have a tournament in Sri Lanka during the monsoon season, it rains at about the same time every day.”

“He ruined that World Cup, it was a real shame.”

All but two of Sri Lanka’s matches are being played at the R Premadasa Stadium, as are all of Pakistan’s matches due to ongoing political tensions with India, which hosts the majority of the tournament.

Fatima Sanaa’s side are bottom of the tournament standings and facing elimination having lost their last two matches, including a match against England where they looked well placed to win.

“You don’t want to go into a 50-over World Cup and, well, let’s hope we get a T20 tonight if it rains a bit,” Hartley added. “It was a bit predictable and really disappointing.”

“I toured Sri Lanka 10 years ago in October, and it was pouring rain on each of our training courses every afternoon.

“The matches in Sri Lanka could and should have started earlier – that is the only way the matches could be made unaffected.”

All matches are played at night, with kick-offs at 10:30 GMT and 15:00 local time.

New Zealand also saw rain in their last two matches in Colombo, and the World T20 champions are currently missing out on the qualification spots for the knockout stages.

“It’s very frustrating, let’s be honest. You wait four years before the World Cup and you suffer in the rain,” said New Zealand captain Sophie Devine, who is likely to play in the last 50 World Cup tournaments.

“I hope next editions they will consider playing earlier in the day. We saw the rain falling in the evening, so play at 10 or 11. For the game, to have the rain spoil it is a real shame for me.”

BBC Sport has contacted the International Cricket Council (ICC) for comment.

England’s only match in Colombo was against Pakistan, where they slipped to 133-9 but had the match abandoned while chasing their opponents.

However, England coach Charlotte Edwards criticized the situation in Sri Lanka.

“You want to play as much cricket as possible. I don’t know if it’s possible to change things so that matches start earlier because of the monsoon season.

“I just hope the teams playing there get some cricket this week, because you want to be playing matches in tournaments like this and it’s very disappointing that they’re not at the moment.”

If Pakistan qualify for the knockout stages, their matches will be played in Colombo, but since they are unlikely to qualify, only two matches are likely to be played there – between Pakistan and South Africa on Tuesday and Sri Lanka and Pakistan on Friday.

Weather on both days?

rain.