sunday shouldn't be a day of rest

Rain has been a major problem this year.

Down the years Wimbledon officials have been blamed for everything from the price of strawberries to over-zealous security.

But rarely have they taken a more sustained battering from players for the running of the world's most prestigious tournament.

Rafael Nadal accused them of not caring about the competitors. Novak Djokovic said the decision not to play on the middle Sunday was "bad".

And John McEnroe, in his usual understated fashion, described attempts to schedule matches affected by the inclement weather as "bungling".

All in all Wimbledon referee Andrew Jarrett has come in for more stick than Graham Poll.

But is it merited?

Undoubtedly in parts it is, including the decision to cancel Nadal's match against Soderling on Tuesday night at around 8pm, at which point the sun came out and a crucial third-round match could have been completed.

And especially when the public address announcer reveals during a suspension of play on Wednesday afternoon: "Although currently it is dry we are concerned with the clouds approaching from the west, so we will wait for those clouds to pass."

So spectators who had paid around £70 for a seat on the show courts sat for the best part of an hour and a half, much of it in brilliant sunshine, waiting for it to rain. Inevitably, eventually it did.

No, you really couldn't make it up, could you?

Hardly surprising, then, that frustration and tension levels have grown as the tournament has progressed.

The fact, however, is that a lawn tennis tournament and the British weather is a volatile mixture.

You cannot play tennis on wet grass. Understandably, officials do not want to call players to court when weather forecasters tell them only 10 or 15 minutes play might be possible. Which means that sometimes the tournament will be ravaged by the weather as it was in 1982.

That is why a retractable roof will be in place on Centre Court by 2009 and that is to be welcomed.

But there is one thing for which Wimbledon organisers stand guilty as charged. And that is the ludicrous decision not to play on the middle Sunday.

Not just this year when the middle Sunday was mainly dry, but every year.

Three times in the last century Wimbledon has relented and let in paying customers on the middle Sunday and each time it has been a spectacular success.

It happened in 1991 and 2004 and, perhaps most memorably in 1997, the latter being the year which saw two days in a row washed out entirely by rain for the first time since 1909.

But it gave birth to People's Sunday when a Centre Court packed with real tennis fans, all of whom had queued, roared on Tim Henman to a five-set victory, including a 14-12 final set, over Paul Haarhuis of the Netherlands.

It is debatable whether Wimbledon has savoured a more exciting atmosphere in its entire history, save perhaps for People's Monday when rain again prompted Goran Ivanisevic's unforgettable final triumph against Pat Rafter.

The point is that so far this Wimbledon, with its copious interruptions, has been the most frustrating and tedious in living memory.

Yes, the rain is to blame. But so is the reluctance of Wimbledon's "bunglers" not to see what is as plain as day, Sunday to be precise.

Have they never heard the sun shines on the righteous?