Keep the scoreline, share the revenue loss since India pulled out

Playing the final Test next year is as ridiculous as deciding to play the fifth day of the first match then

The suspense over the result of the final Test in Manchester has become as tense as that ahead of the matches actually played. Instead of won, lost or drawn, the result is abandoned, forfeited or rescheduled, each with its own baggage.

Officials of the Board of Control for Cricket in India have backed two of these results; the England and Wales Cricket Board initially claimed it should be the third (forfeited), but seems willing to talk of rescheduling. It is now a power game between two boards (and the International Cricket Council), one of which has got used to having its way in most things. It’s a game of inglorious certainty.