By Neto Baptiste
Director of Cricket for Cricket West Indies (CWI), Jimmy Adams, believes that the standard of pitches in the Caribbean has improved over the last three years.
Criticisms are often leveled against the poor quality of pitches prepared for regional tournaments and some international matches across the Caribbean with the latest set of condemnations leveled against pitches used in the recent Caribbean Premier League (CPL) held in Trinidad.
Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show Adams, a former West Indies and Jamaica batsman, said there has been some improvements over the years.
“We think we have seen improvements in the pitches over the last three to four years, and it is something that we have been stressing and something that we have been planning around. Through Mr Crafton, we are continuing to monitor pitches, not just at the international level where there are serious consequences if you get it wrong, but also at the regional level for First Class and junior players, because ultimately, we want even our kids playing on the best possible surfaces so it is an issue that we take very seriously. We will continue to keep pushing and striving for more consistent wickets across the boards in all our tournaments from junior elevens right up,” he said.
Other former players to include former fast bowlers Sir Curtly Ambrose and Sir Andy Roberts, have criticised the quality of pitches being prepared throughout the region and have called for improvements to be made.
Adams, who was appointed to the CWI role in January of 2017, said they have been working closely with St Lucian Ken Crafton, the body’s chief curator, as they seek to improve standards across the board.
“It’s something that CWI takes very seriously and we have Mr Ken Crafton from St Lucia, who is a fulltime employee to us as like a head curator and a large part of his role has been education with all the grounds staff or individuals across the Caribbean and it is an ongoing process,” he said.
In 2019 and then again in 2020, Sir Curtly partially blamed the poor quality of cricket in the region on slow and low wickets that he believes does not adequately prepare batsmen to face fiery pace bowling.