The ECB has been urged to consider ticket-buying supporters after changing the start time for the India test in the near future to raise awareness among Asian broadcasters.
The rescheduled fifth Test starts on Friday half an hour earlier than usual at 10.30am.
Many supporters only discovered the news over the weekend when it hit the media.
An ECB spokesman said the decision had been made to raise awareness of the match in India and not overlap with the Vitality Blast matches in the evening.
By kicking off at 10:30am, the match will kick off at 3pm in India and finish at 10pm, which is more fitting for the broadcasters, but it does mean supporters who had already booked train tickets could miss the start of the game. The Blast regularly clashes with Test cricket.
“The rationale behind bringing the start forward seems reasonable, but we can’t help but feel that the impact on fans attending the game has not been fully considered,” said Becky Fairlie-Clarke, chief executive of the Cricket Supporters’ Association. “We know that trains are booked and plans are made well in advance and so this change is inconvenient for some supporters coming to the ground. We urge the ECB to always consider those who have paid to be there and of course want to watch a full day play.”
A spokesman for the Barmy Army added: “More notice would have been ideal, but at least we didn’t learn on the morning of the game as we did for the abandoned Test last year.”
The match was moved from Emirates Old Trafford to Edgbaston in October last year.
India Test captain Rohit Sharma is expected to miss the match with Covid, a bizarre coincidence as the Test was canceled last year due to a Covid outbreak in their camp.
Jasper Bumrah is likely to lead India for the first time. Rohit’s deputy, KL Rahul is injured. Rohit took over from Virat Kohli as Test captain only earlier this year and was India’s best batsman in last summer’s series, averaging 52.
Ben Foakes will undergo a fitness test on Thursday after coming out of Covid isolation. He complained of a bad back during the Headingley Test, with Jonny Bairstow taking over in New Zealand’s second innings. He was later diagnosed with covid and Sam Billings was called up as an official replacement. Billings was kept in the squad in case Foakes did not recover.
James Anderson is fit after missing the final test with an ankle problem and is enjoying his time playing under the new regime. He says he has never known such a relaxed changing room.
“I’ve never been in a locker room when we were chasing 300 on a field that is spinning and everyone was so calm, believing we were going to chase them,” he said of the third test. “I had never seen that before after 20 years of playing international cricket. You always get some nervous people but one before 11 and the staff was just calm and believed. I think that belief can go such a long way, especially with the young players we have. If I try to develop their confidence and experience, I think it will do wonders for them.”