ECB insist drainage will work

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Not a single ball was bowled in the NatWest Series opener between England and West Indies at Headingley as the new drainage system failed to cope with heavy rain.

"We have every confidence for the Ashes," Gordon Hollins, the ECB's head of venue partnerships, said. "We have spoken to the experts, July is still some time away and we have no fear that the systems will be working properly at all the grounds at that time."

Like the famous Leeds ground, Cardiff and the Brit Oval have also had new systems put in place over the winter - Lord's already has high-tech drainage - in a bid to increase playing time in the event of wet weather.

Hollins added: "We have to manage people's expectations, I guess: drainage systems won't mean we will never lose play to rain again.

"It just means spectators will be able to see a lot more international cricket going forward because it will help rather than eliminate rained-off games.

"There has never been a rained-off game in history that's done the ECB or cricket in general any good because people want to watch matches.

"But the investment is a long-term one and they will get a lot more cricket for their money.

"Ultimately the public will decide but I am absolutely confident as the summer moves forward we will have an example where we play after heavy rain and they will realise the sense of the investment."