Reserve day - what is it?

It’s no secret that cricket matches can last a whole day and several days – this is the charm and main difficulty of this sport because this duration tests the endurance of the players and the spectators. But not everyone knows that the reserve day can also be assigned during a cricket match – additional days that increase the duration of the match.

What Is a Reserve Day in Cricket?

This term can be understood in two meanings:

• As an extra day of the game, which the referees appoint if something interferes with the normal course of the match – for example, bad weather.
• As a free day in the teams’ schedule, which is used as an additional playing day.

As a general rule, it is possible to determine with certainty whether or not a reserve day will be required even before the match begins. Before the One-Day International (ODI) competition that took place in 2018, which comprised seven matches, for instance, the teams from England and Sri Lanka came to an agreement to include reserve days into the match schedule. The reason for this was the weather prediction, which indicated that the competition would be disrupted, so preventing the participants from playing the requisite amount of overs.

In spite of the fact that reserve days in cricket are a part of the tournament schedule, both teams should nonetheless perform to the best of their abilities on the main days. Due to the fact that even reserve days that teams have set are only used in the event that the predetermined amount of overs has not been achieved on a particular game day.

The rules for assigning a reserve day are as follows:

• At the beginning of each match, there is usually a coin toss game. A coin toss is used by the captains to determine which team will start the hitting or serving process. A re-throw of the coin will not be performed on the cricket reserve day unless the captains of both teams agree to carry out a fresh toss. This is the case if the match is halted after the coin has been thrown.
• If the match was interrupted and then resumed with a reduction of overs and then interrupted anyway due to bad weather before the game started. It is necessary that the whole amount of overs that were played on the reserve day be finished. In accordance with the initial plan, prior to the competition being determined to be cut shorter.
• If the match was stopped and resumed with a reduced number of overs, and bad weather prevented the match from being played after the first over after the restart was started, then the reduced number of overs will be played on the reserve day.

Occasions Where Reserve Days Were Assigned in Cricket

There are hardly any reserve days in the sport of cricket. As a result of rain or other adverse weather conditions that rendered the game unplayable, they are only used in the event that a large portion of the match has been lost. They cannot be nominated at the whim of either one of the teams or even both of them, since this would be contrary to the wishes of viewers or tournament organizers. On the other hand, reserve days in cricket are used in both games played at the top level and games played at the regional level.

To give you an example, during the match between New Zealand and India that took place during the ICC World Test Championship 2021, a sixth reserve day was used. It was because of the torrential rain that was falling on Southampton when the match was taking place at the Rose Bowl. On the very first day of the match, which was slated to begin on June 18, the negative weather conditions had already begun to manifest themselves.

It wasn’t until the second part of the day that the rain stopped, but the judges made the decision to call off the game that was scheduled to take place since the field was no longer useable. Without a reserve day, it became abundantly evident that it was not feasible to do the task. It was New Zealand that emerged victorious for the very first time in the competition’s history, which took place on the sixth day.

A reserve day was also set for the 2019 Cricket World Cup semi-finals when India lost to Pakistan and was eliminated from the title race.

As a rule, reserve days are assigned only for the most important, decisive matches and are rarely used in bilateral series matches.

The main purpose of the reserve day is to ensure that teams can catch up and make the most of the extra overs. Reserve days are always very spectacular and tense because it is decided who will be the winner at this moment.