BEHIND THE SPORTS DESK: You can't handle the heat

Extreme playing conditions in final Ashes test raise concerns over need for ICC heat policy.

CRICKET: After England struggled in the field under the pressure of a 47 degree day during the fifth and final Ashes test in Sydney, captain Joe Root was hospitalised with severe dehydration.

It has heralded renewed calls for the ICC - world cricket's governing body - to introduce a new heat policy to ensure there is a cut-off temperature where play is called off.

But we ask the question - is a standardised heat policy really what cricket needs?

MOOSE: Heat policy could be cause for confusion

WHILE it was, at times, tough to watch England fielding on consecutive days in 40-plus degree heat, there was no need for an overarching heat policy in world cricket.

This is a debate that has raged for a number of years in local cricket, with the CRCA deciding not to implement an overarching heat policy last year, despite calls from players.

But in fairness to that association, and in fairness to world cricket governing body the ICC, there is no need for a heat policy.

It would cause more stress and confusion than anything for the game.

Former CRCA president Tom Kroehnert said to me last year that the biggest issue was the difference between temperatures from one end of the Valley to the other.

If games are called at 40 degrees, then there is a possibility two games are forced off the field in Grafton while the third goes ahead in Harwood.

It creates a problem where teams can get an added chance to earn premiership points when other's didn't. And I already know that will be cause for controversy for a few clubs more than the belting heat.

I am all for creating a policy with our juniors, because we should be protecting the youth, but when it comes to senior cricket we are all adults.

Surely if it gets too hot, both sides can come together and agree to call off the match. We don't need an overarching rule that guides every decision. We're smarter than that.

POTTSY: Cricket should follow in the footsteps of tennis

THE image of English captain Joe Root with struggling with severe dehydration after the SCG test is the latesta reminder that cricket needs to have a policy on how it deals with extreme heat.

Cricket fans like to bring up the effort of remember Dean Jones, who needed to be put on a drip in was hospitalised after scoring 210 for Australia against India in Madras in 1986, but is a cricket match something worth dying over if the heat gets too much? Player welfare needs to be taken into consideration in this situation, and cricket needs to be brought up with the times.

Tennis is an prime example of how modern sport has adapted to handle testing conditions.

After the famous heatwave hit the Australian Open in Melbourne in 2015, where players seemingly dropped like flies, andthey expressed their concerns over the conditions they were forced to play in.

Now umpires have the ability to suspend matches if the heat becomesis too much.

I know cricket, in particular test cricket, needs to be played during the day as natural light is required, but when temperatures are in the 40C or above, what's the harm in calling a session to an end early? to reassess the conditions and Or delaying play until later in the day, with extra overs to make up the session after the scheduled end of the test?

The people who paid good money to be in the grandstand might not like it, but is watching heat- fatigued and drained players risk their health a real spectacle anyway?

I'm sure the last thing anyone wants to see is serious harm brought to any player because the administrators were too stubborn to recognise the problem.

Originally published as BEHIND THE SPORTS DESK: You can't handle the heat