‘It's just one of those things that's frustrating’ - Olly Stone on England being forced to bowl spin due to bad light

England pacer Chris Woakes turned spinner on Day 2 of the third Test against Sri Lanka. Due to bad light at Kennington Oval, the umpires forced the seamers to take a backstep and asked the spinners to continue, which frustrated the Ollie Pope-led side. It allowed Sri Lanka to launch a counter-attack as both Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis hit a half-century each.

Speaking about it, pacer Olly Stone stated that it was frustrating but they could not do anything about the rules. He mentioned that Sri Lanka managed to finish well as the pacers were taken out of the game but they were up to compete and entertain the fans. Stone added that the ball was visible to the players but understood the decision taken by the umpires as they did not want to hurt any cricketer.

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“They're the rules, aren't they? You can't change those. It's taken out of our hands. We'd have obviously loved to have bowled seam there. It's just one of those things that's frustrating but has to be done,” Stone was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

“Everyone could see the ball, I guess. As a team, we want to be out there for as long as we can and you have to go off what the umpires say, and unfortunately, we couldn't bowl seam. I guess there's a point where it may become dangerous, and you don't want to see anyone get hurt. We'll keep providing the entertainment whether it be with seam or spin, and trying to take the game forward,” he added.

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Sri Lanka finished the day with 211/5 on board. They are trailing by 114 runs after Day 2 and would hope to take a lead on the third day of the match. To do so, Dhananjaya and Mendis will have to play a crucial role.