By Neto Baptiste
An investigation into the circumstances which led to a delayed start on day one of the CWI Professional Championships four-day match between the Leeward Islands Hurricanes and the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium almost two weeks ago, is not dead.
This is according to President of the Antigua and Barbuda Cricket Association (ABCA), Leon Rodney, who said a number of reports have been submitted, including one from CWI’s regional curator, Ken Crafton out of St Lucia, and that a series of meetings will be held to discuss the way forward.
“We also received a report from Mr Anthony Merrick, we also received reports from the managers of both teams that were playing in Trinidad and Leeward obviously, so all of the reports were sent off. I know that from a CWI standpoint that the minister [Daryll Matthew] was written with all the reports attached, so there are a number of things that will have to happen now in terms of meeting-wise, and then we see what the recommendations are going to be,” he said.
Reports are that the match between the Leeward Islands Hurricanes and the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force, was delayed by over two-and-a-half hours on opening day [February 8] due to “wet patches” on the pitch. The match, which was scheduled for a 10:00 am start, commenced at 12:48 pm due to the setback.
Rodney said he is pushing for the matter to be seriously addressed as constant issues at the venue have raised concerns over the methods being employed by staff when preparing for, or during, matches at the North Sound venue.
“The last meeting we had with the stadium manager [Keithroy Black] and Mr Merrick in terms of myself and Enoch Lewis [LICB President], we continued to make it absolutely clear that it is about Antigua and Barbuda. The last interview that I did with you guys, for some reason somebody didn’t hear the interview, but they went and said that I said all kinds of stuff, but I just want everybody to simply understand that it has nothing to do with Kuma Rodney, it has nothing to do with Enoch Lewis, it has nothing to do with Black, nothing to do with Mr Merrick, it has to do with Antigua and Barbuda and the amount of cricket we get in Antigua; we should all be glad for it because we know the spinoff effect,” he said.
Earlier reports are that a similar incident occurred when Guyana Harpy Eagles played Barbados Pride at the venue one week prior to the Leeward vs T&T match where that contest was delaye, also due to wet areas around the pitch.