Rain Delays, Scorching Heat: Climate Change Batters Cricket

From Washed-Out Matches to Extreme Temperatures, Cricket Feels the Impact of a Warming Globe

Smoke fills the sky from the Line Fire burning in the San Bernardino National Forest as seen near the Cabazon Dinosaurs in Cabazon, Calif., on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. / Taya Gray/The Desert Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK

Last year, Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 matches had to be rescheduled due to heavy rains in Colombo, Sri Lanka, creating logistical nightmares for the teams. In 2024, the final between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Gujarat Titans (GT) in Ahmedabad, India, was postponed to the reserve day due to persistent rains. The T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final between India and England in Georgetown, Guyana, experienced rain delays. Despite having no reserve day, an extra 250 minutes were allocated to ensure the match could be completed. These are just but a few examples.

In Australia, considerations have had to be made for the Boxing Day Test to be played at night or in cooler months like November and March as climate change worsens extreme heat, according to an assessment of the impact and exposure of Australian cricket to global warming by the Monash Climate Change Communication Research Hub in 2019.

The world continues to experience longer and heavier rain seasons, increasing spontaneous forest fires, colder winters, hotter summers, and lately sustained hurricanes that have led to great devastation and death. Are these events related to climate change? Most probably. Do we need to do something about it? Definitely yes.

“Climate change is affecting cricket here and now,” said Paul Sinclair, Campaigns Director of the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), which commissioned the Australian research. He added, “Cricket depends on the weather like few other sports, with changes in rainfall and temperature affecting the movement of the ball and the condition of the pitch, often turning matches.”

Cricket games leave more than the players' imprints on the field. There is a need to tackle carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions arising from the actions of the players and fans. UN Climate Change is calling on sports organizations and their stakeholders to join a new climate action for sports movement. This initiative is designed to support and guide sports actors in meeting global climate change goals.

“Sports organizations can display climate leadership by engaging together in the climate neutrality journey. They can achieve this by taking responsibility for their climate footprint, which will incentivize climate action beyond the sports sector, and therefore help global ambition step up in the face of the threat posed by climate change,” said UN Climate Change.

World leaders will congregate at the UN Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 11 to 22 November 2024. The conference aims to increase calls to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. It’s a crucial platform for driving international efforts to combat climate change.

“Uniting behind a set of principles, sports organizations, and their communities have created an initiative by collaborating in order to position their sector on the path of the low carbon economy that global leaders agreed on in Paris: Sports for Climate Action,” UN Climate Change added.

Many international cricketers are stepping up for climate action, with the "Cricket for Climate" initiative led by Australian team captain Pat Cummins at the forefront. This movement includes top players like Alyssa Healy, Rachael Haynes, Steve Smith, David Warner, Mitchell Starc and Marnus Labuschagne. Their goal is to lessen cricket's carbon footprint by promoting solar power installations at local clubs and implementing various green practices.