Leaden skies and rain, which delaved the scheduled toss, were not conducive to the kind of theatrics associated with Twenty20 and eventually led to the cancellation of the opening ceremony of the second edition of the ICC World Twenty20 at Lords yesterday.

Indeed conditions were reminiscent of those which accompanied the limp opening ceremony at Lord's for the 1999 fifty’ over World Cup - the last time that tournament was played in England.

With a huge cover remaining resolutely in place over the pitch, while volunteers struggled to control giant England and Netherlands flags on the outfield, a temporary stage in front of the pavillion from which the singer Alesha Dixon had been due to perform, was hastily dismantled.

"Unfortunately, the opening ceremony has been canned," an International Cricket Council spokesman told reporters in the Lord's media centre. "But we will have a couple of speeches."