By Tony Cozier
Lockhart Sebastien’s annoyance was typically blunt and utterly justified.
“This is not a curry goat match,” the former Windward Islands opener, now long-standing team manager, fumed after Shivnarine Chanderpaul abandoned his innings for Guyana in the final Carib Beer Cup encounter at Providence last week to attend the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) awards ceremony in Port-of-Spain.
“This is a first-class encounter and things like this are allowed to happen and we wonder why West Indies cricket is in the state that it is in,” he said.
He has been around long enough to know that regional cricket has, indeed, deteriorated into little more than a curry goat tournament.
The Chanderpaul retirement, sanctioned by no less than the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) president and West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) director, Chetram Singh, was only one of its many manifestations.
Two years ago, Sebastien was similarly incensed when the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) rescheduled the Windwards’ Carib Cup match against the Leeward Islands to Mindoo Philip Park in St. Lucia while pre-World Cup work was in progress at the magnificent Beausejour Stadium.
The Park, in the heart of Castries, is a ground notorious for an outfield that gathered the almost inevitable rainfall like a swamp. Predictably, not a ball was bowled in what was its last first-class match.
Sebastien’s point was that the fixture should have been shifted to another more acceptable venue in the Windward Islands but those who plan these things at the WICB paid no heed. Nor have they done this season.
Year after year, coaches and captains have complained about the sub-standard facilities at several grounds for the Carib Cup.
At last, the World Cup brought with it quality stadiums, either renovated or constructed from scratch at great expense.
Outfields were equipped with drainage systems that made even the heaviest downpour nothing more than annoying interruptions rather than prolonged delays. Expansive covers were obtained, motorised ‘water-hogs’ purchased.
This was to be one of the much-hyped legacies of the tournament. No longer would our cricketers have to put up with outfields as flood-prone and potholed as our roads or dressing rooms as cramped as prison cells.
Yet it was a message that clearly escaped the functionaries at the WICB responsible for such matters.
Not a Carib match was scheduled this season at the new World Cup showpieces in Trelawney, Jamaica, Warner Park in St. Kitts and the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.
Instead, preference was given to Salem Park in Montserrat, the Addelita Cancyn School Ground in St.Thomas (the U.S.Virgin Islands), Carib Lumber Park in St. Maarten (for sponsorship reasons, perhaps), Kensington Club in Jamaica (of which WICB vice-president Dave Cameron is president) and Alpart Sports Club in Jamaica.
Once more teams had to unnecessarily put up with conditions that verify the curry goat analogy.
There was no play on two days of Trinidad and Tobago’s match against the Leewards in St. Maarten because of a soggy outfield. It was the same, sorry story for Barbados’s match against the Leewards in Montserrat where the porous covers failed to protect the pitch from overnight rain.
Only 55 overs were possible in St. Maarten where Trinidad and Tobago had to share the points (four each) in a no-decision. It might well have cost them the Cup as they finished only three points behind eventual champions, Jamaica. With two matches so reduced, the Leewards had no chance at all.
Whatever the reasons – and politics within the WICB’s individual member boards is high on the list – such mismanagement verifies Sebastien’s comment, “we wonder why West Indies cricket is in the state that it is in.”
As unacceptable as all as that is, it pales in comparison with the appalling indifference that caused the cancellation of the visiting Sri Lankans’ three-day match against a Select team at Shaw Park, Tobago, last weekend.
All the WICB could offer as an explanation was that it had been called off “because of flight problems”. It provided no further details, simply stating that it “apologises for any inconveniences caused” and adding that “Sri Lanka will use the opportunity to do net practice at Shaw Park.”
As it turned out, the Sri Lankans did not “use the opportunity to practice” because the pitch and the outfield at Shaw Park were just not up to scratch.
Even if the WICB had fulfilled its obligations and kept the fixture, it is unlikely to have taken place in such conditions.
The Sri Lankans had to fly back to Trinidad a couple of days before scheduled to get satisfactory amenities at the National Cricket Centre at Balmain.
As for the WICB’s passing the buck to “flight problems”, Caribbean Airlines has made it clear that there were no problems for the return Trinidad-Tobago-Trinidad flights for either team.
Dayanand Birju, its director, network management, stated that a block of 23 seats (with no names) was confirmed for the Sri Lanka team on March 17 and 17 seats (with no names) for the West Indies ‘A’ team on March 18 for return flights, March 27-April 1.
Birju said the names for the Sri Lankan group were supplied and their tickets printed on the day of travel but no names were provided for any member of the West Indies `A’ team, bookings for which were cancelled early on the morning of March 27, two days before the scheduled match.
He added that when the Sri Lankans asked if they could return to Trinidad before April 1, they were accommodated on three flights out of Tobago the day before. It is pertinent that other sporting organizations could organise major tournaments at around the same time, such as Carifta track and field in St.Kitts and swimming in Aruba, both involving dozens of competitors, without being disrupted by “flight problems.”
The WICB may counter with some further excuse for their ineptitude but nothing can excuse the disrespect shown to their guests who were denied a match that had been on the itinerary for several months because, for whatever reason, they could not raise a team. It has been a shameful embarrassment.
