By james art 
Last year, the Super 4 matches of the 2023 Asia Cup had to be rescheduled due to heavy rains in Colombo, Sri Lanka, creating logistical nightmares for the teams. In 2024, the final between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Gujarat Titans (GT) in Ahmedabad, India was postponed to the reserve day due to persistent rains. The T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final between India and England in Georgetown, Guyana has been delayed due to rain. Although there was no spare day, an extra 250 minutes were allocated to ensure the match could be completed. These are just a few examples.
Australia should consider playing the Boxing Day Test at night or in cooler months such as November and March as climate change worsens extreme heat, according to an assessment of Australian cricket’s impact and exposure to global warming by the Center for Communications research at Monash on climate change in 2019
The world continues to experience longer and heavier rainy seasons, increasing wildfires, colder winters, hotter summers and, more recently, prolonged hurricanes that have caused widespread devastation and death. Are these events related to climate change? Most likely. Should we do something about it? Definitely yes.
“Climate change is affecting cricket here and now,” said Paul Sinclair, director of campaigns for the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), which commissioned the Australian study. He added: “Cricket is dependent on the weather like few other sports, with changes in rainfall and temperature affecting ball movement and pitch conditions, often turning matches around.”
Cricket games leave more than the footprints of the players on the field. There is a need to address carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions resulting from the actions of players and fans. UN Climate Change is calling on sports organizations and their stakeholders to join a new climate action for sports movement. This initiative aims to support and guide sports participants in achieving global climate change goals.
“Sports organizations can demonstrate climate leadership by joining together in the journey to climate neutrality. They can achieve this by taking responsibility for their climate footprint, which will drive climate action beyond the sports sector and therefore help boost global ambitions in the face of the threat posed by climate change,” said UN Climate Change.
World leaders will gather at the UN Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 11 to 22 November 2024. The conference aims to increase calls to accelerate action on the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change the climate. It is a crucial platform for boosting international efforts to combat climate change.
“Unifying behind a set of principles, sports organizations and their communities have created a collaborative initiative to position their sector on the path to the low-carbon economy agreed by global leaders in Paris: Sport for Climate Action”, UN Climate Change has been added.
Many international cricketers are stepping up for climate action, with the ‘Cricket for the Climate’ initiative spearheaded by Australian team captain Pat Cummins. This movement includes top players such as Alyssa Healy, Rachel Haynes, Steve Smith, David Warner, Mitchell Starc and Marnus Labuschagne. Their aim is to reduce cricket’s carbon footprint by promoting solar energy installations at local clubs and implementing various green practices.