Friday's opening ceremony of the ICC Twenty20 World Championships was cancelled for the sake of a timely start of the opening match between hosts England and the Netherlands as rain played spoilsport.
Persistent drizzle forced the organisers to do away with the ceremony so that the match could start on time at Lord's.
ICC president David Morgan addressed the gathering before the match and expressed disappointment over the cancellation of the ceremony.
"As it is evident, the weather has not been kind to us. The opening ceremony has been cancelled. However, the good news is that the opening match is going to start," Morgan said.
The Duke of Kent then declared open the T20 extravaganza.