More rain pushes back play at USACA Nationals

Steady rain throughout Friday afternoon and evening has caused rounds three and four of the preliminary phase of the USACA T20 National Championship to be pushed back into Saturday morning. Group play was scheduled to wrap up on Friday evening, but thunderstorms have prevented more than half the games from being played over the first two days of the tournament.

The remaining matches in the group stage will now be played as 10-over games scheduled for 9 am and 11 am on Saturday morning. Weather permitting, semi-finals will take place for 2 pm and the final at 6 pm as originally scheduled. However, if weather continues to interrupt play, then the semi-finals could be scrapped with the two group winners playing in a tournament final to decide the title.

"It's not the ideal situation," Owen Grey, USACA board member and national championship tournament director, told ESPNcricinfo. "I feel bad more for the players and the regions because they really made the effort to be here, compete and have a good time. It is what it is. We just have to regroup and look into future tournaments when we schedule them."

The summer months in south Florida are considered hurricane season with bad weather and tropical storms a constant concern. Asked if the tournament should have been held in a different location at this time of year instead of the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Grey said that it's something USACA will take into consideration going forward.

"Looking at things and going back to the drawing board, the months of June through September is not ideal to try to conduct a tournament like this. It's a learning experience. Hindsight is 20/20 but looking at it there are other things we can take into consideration moving forward and it's something that we'll definitely evaluate."