Netwest vs Euro!
i saw a report in bbc.com which seems very funny to me...im giving the full report here......
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It's a simple case of bad timing.
by Anna Thompson
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The dates for the NatWest Series were decided many months ago.
So it's rather unfortunate England's opening match against New Zealand, a day-nighter at Old Trafford, will clash with England's Euro 2004 semi-final against Portugal.
Cricket bosses have decided against erecting a big screen for sports fans to watch both the cricket and the football.
Instead they will be kept up to date with the latest score at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon with announcements over the PA system.
More than 18,000 tickets have been sold for the first match of the series, with less than 500 left on sale.
A spokeswoman for Lancashire Cricket Club said as far as she was aware no fans had returned their tickets so they could watch football instead.
She said: "Fans who have bought tickets are genuine cricket fans and want to see cricket and not football."
During the football World Cup in Japan and South Korea two years ago, when England beat Denmark 3-0, Old Trafford did put up big screens in the car park.
But this was during the third day of the third Test match against Sri Lanka and fans simply filed out for a couple of hours on Saturday morning and then returned to follow the cricket once more.
A one-day game is much more fast-paced and bosses did not want a mass evacuation.
Lancashire chief executive Jim Cumbes said: "Unfortunately it is not possible for us to organise a big-screen, particularly because of space limitations due to large numbers of spectators.
"We hope that everyone will understand that safety of our customers comes before any other concern."
However all is not lost for those desperate to watch both matches - they will just need to pray for a rain break.
Cricket chiefs have agreed to show the football on the giant replay screen within the stadium if rain halts the cricket.
And the weather forecast?
Rain is set to fall earlier in the day but it is set to brighten up later on.
So fans will be hoping the typical wet Manchester weather will arrive on cue with a shower which keeps the players off the pitch from 1945 BST to 2200 BST!
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