By Neto Baptiste
President of the Antigua and Barbuda Cricket Association (ABCA), Leon Rodney, has hinted that the body could look at possibly introducing a reserved day for the hosting of the final in the Super 40 Cup.
This, after PIC Liberta Blackhawks were crowned champions of the competition without a ball being bowled on Sunday as persistent and heavy rains forced officials to abandon the contest which also involved Empire Nation.
“We have no defense whatsoever for that, and I would not even try to defend it. We put our hands up in the air and you know if it’s wrong it’s me, but if it’s good, it’s the Association. So we will definitely have to look at it, but at the end of the day we won’t be putting anybody under the bus. We just have to take the responsibility and recognise that it’s a final and if you look in the playing condition for the two-day tournament you would see there are reserved days for the final, and for some reason, we got this one wrong,” he said.
Sunday’s development has sparked debate over whether the Association should institute the use of a reserved day specifically for finals with player/coach of the Blackhawks team, veteran Wilden Cornwall, advocating for the move.
Rodney, speaking on the now-concluded cricket season, however lamented the length of season but added there is a lesson to be learned.
“We had some stoppages, and then we had the situation with the 10 overs a-side, and we really bent over backwards to try and accommodate it, because the players were involved and were getting a little thing out of it, so you really did not want to sort of put your hands in the lion’s mouth, because sometimes, and as you’d say, damned if you do, damned if you don’t, so we had to entertain that,” he said.
“I think this would be the first for a very long time where we have gone so far down in the hurricane season, so yes, it’s been a long season but at the end of the day it’s a good thing for the players to understand that if you get to the next level, that life would be hard like that from a playing standpoint,” the cricket boss added.
The cricket association opened its 2023 domestic season in January with the staging of the 10 Splash tournament held at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
