Out of interest, if it rained till 4 or so, how would drainage help?
Grounds with good, state-of-the-art drainage can allow play almost as soon as the rain has stopped. I've seen it happen at Lord's, it's pretty amazing.
It hasn't rained all day today, there were dry spells when play might have been possible, both in the morning and the end of the day. Yes there may have been bad light in any event, and yes even a proper modern outfield might have been too wet for play, but the odds of that happening were dramatically reduced by the failure of Warwickshire to spend the money they had been allocated for improved drainage.
At Edgbaston, proper drainage would most certainly have helped on Day 1 when were limited to 30 overs in total not because it was raining for most of the time (it rained only sporadically in what would have been the morning session) but because of a damp, slow-drying outfield.
If it had stopped raining and play resumed, punters would've ended up seeing 20 or 30 overs and getting no refund.
I'm sorry but the logic of this completely escapes me.
If I'm going to watch the Test match I would rather see 30 overs of cricket than none. Full ****ing stop. I don't buy a ticket in the hope that I may get a refund, I buy it in the hope that I'll see some cricket and, in this instance, perhaps see England move closer to an Ashes series victory.
In any case the cost of a Test match is far from limited to the ticket price. It includes the cost of travel, taking time off work, hotels etc. None of these is refundable regardless of how much play is lost.
I was hoping that was the case
