WES HALL pointed the finger of blame at the International Cricket Council (ICC) as rain continued to fall on Saint Lucia’s big cricket parade yesterday.
A torrential, early morning downpour, that followed Sunday’s similar mid- afternoon deluge that ended play 51.4 overs early, completely eliminated the fourth day of the inaugural Test at the Beausejours Stadium yesterday and all but condemned it to a draw.
“I do believe it is an exercise in cricketing madness, indeed the quintessence of cricketing madness, to play (international cricket) in the West Indies in June,” the outgoing West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) said during a ceremony on the sodden outfield marking the day as the 75th anniversary of the West Indies entry into Test cricket.
‘You may ask why, as president, don’t you change it but I can only say that the West Indies board has only one vote at the ICC,” he noted. The international season has been extended into June, the official start of the Caribbean’s annual hurricane period, by the ICC’s ten-year programme, instituted two years ago, that schedules two back-to-back series annually. The second and final Test is scheduled for Sabina Park, Jamaica, June 27-July 1 and Hall recalled that “the heavens opened” for 11 days in Jamaica in late May and mid-June last year, washing out two one-day internationals against India and one against New Zealand. “I hope we at the West Indies board will be able to convince the authorities (at the ICC) that it is madness to attempt to play in June,” he said.
The ICC instituted its programme two years ago in an effort to ensure that each Test team meets the other more regularly on a home and away basis. India and New Zealand shared the season last year. Australia, the first tourists this year, got through their four Tests and seven one-day internationals between April 10 and May 30 with minimal disruption from the weather. Bangladesh, who follow England in 2004 for three one-day internationals and two Tests, are down to end their tour on June 8. Prior to the new ICC schedule, only twice did the international season in the Caribbean carry into June. The final Test against Australia in 1955 was staged at Sabina Park, Jamaica, June 11-17, without the weather intervening. The second and final Test of Sri Lanka’s only previous tour, at Arnos Vale in St.Vincent in 1997, was curtailed by rain and ended in a close draw, Hall has argued at the ICC that putting cricket in the West Indies at the start of the hurricane season is tantamount to staging a Test in England in winter. Apart from the financial losses incurred through the blank days, Hall said in a recent interview that the WICB found it difficult to maintain the pubic and international television interest in the second series.
The main, if not sole, point of interest when, and if, play is possible on the final day today is Brian Lara’s 21st Test hundred, his third in the five Tests this season and his fifth in six Tests against Sri Lanka. The West Indies captain was 93 out of the West Indies 272 for four, replying to Sri Lanka’s 354, when the last ball was bowled on Sunday. It would be deserving of a diligent innings for him to achieve the landmark. The ground staff, using the one water-hog machine to consistent effect, worked diligently throughout the day to get the outfield ready. They were aided by hazy sunshine that broke through by the appointed start at 9.35 am and a strong wind. It convinced umpire Billy Bowden and Daryl Harper that there might just be the chance of getting in an hour or so at the end and they made hourly inspections to determine the extent of the drying. But the wait was eventually futile and the day was abandoned at 4.30 pm.