Second Test abandoned after 'beach-cricket' by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Scorecard:	West Indies v England
Player:	FH Edwards, CH Gayle, AJ Strauss
Event:	England in West Indies 2008/09

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DateLine: 14th February 2009

 

The second test between West Indies and England was embarrassingly abandoned after 10 balls on Friday because of the state of the outfield at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium. Match referee Alan Hurst told a news conference play would resume, officially as the third test of what will now be a five-test series, on Sunday at the Antigua Recreation Ground -- the island's old test venue.

 

"Following discussions involving the local authorities and the two Boards it was clear we could not proceed with the test match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium," said Hurst. "The ground conditions, and especially the bowlers' run-ups, were unfit and potentially dangerous and we decided it would not be possible to rectify those fundamental issues over the course of a day or so. The Antigua Recreation Ground gives us the opportunity to stage a test match on the same island, something that is a prime consideration given the many supporters who have come here to watch the West Indies and England in action."

 

SANDY SURFACE

 

Play had earlier been called off for the day after West Indies' bowlers struggled to complete their run-ups because of the soft and sandy surface. England were seven for no wicket when play was halted. The day's play was halted midway through the second over, only two balls after a 20-minute delay for rain, as Fidel Edwards flung the ball away in disgust, after failing three times in a row to enter his delivery stride. After a lengthy discussion between the captains, Chris Gayle and Andrew Strauss, and the onfield umpires, Daryl Harper and Tony Hill, the ICC match referee, Alan Hurst was left to make the difficult decision. The outfield, which was relaid in October after high-profile issues with the drainage during the 2007 World Cup, was declared by Hurst on the eve of the match to be "unsatisfactory" but he added that it would be impossible to know how bad the situation was until play actually got underway. It took less than a delivery for the doubts to begin to surface.

 

Chris Gayle won the toss and bowled, hoping to inflict further scars on England after their 51 all out at Kingston last week, but Jerome Taylor failed to deliver his first ball at the first attempt, and then ended up sending it down from parallel with the stumps, after completely losing his run-up. Edwards at the other end had an even tougher time of it. He bowled two balls before a light shower caused the players to leave the field, but upon the resumption, his frustration grew with every delivery. With sand visibly being kicked up as he pounded to the crease, he managed to bowl two half-cocked deliveries before hurling the ball to the keeper in disgust and precipitating the inquest.

 

About an hour after play was stopped, ground staff began to dig up the run-up at one end of the ground with shovels to try to lay a new surface. The digging revealed that the foundations of the field, which has not been used in the past year, are based on sand with no grass roots.