Sunday, May 26, 2002
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Cricket
By Vijay Lokapally
A groundsman rolling a `sopper' on the pitch, covered by a tent, to press out the moisture from the surface at the Sabina Park in Kingston on Saturday. However, all the efforts proved futile and the first one-day International between India and West Indies was abandoned without a ball being bowled. — Photo:V.V. Krishnan
The umpires, Russell Tiffin and Ed Nichols, lost little time in taking the decision to abandon the match, so poor was the outfield, not to forget the pitch. The curator and his staff had worked relentlessly, making every effort to get the field match-fit but a soggy outfield and a damp pitch ruled out any chances of even a 25-overs-a-side encounter. Incessant rain since Wednesday, soon after the West Indies won the fifth and final Test, had confronted the organisers with a gigantic task. The curator had left the pitch uncovered on Wednesday since he had had no time to prepare it when the Test was on. It was bound to be tough on the ground staff because there was no let up in the rainfall, which left the fans disappointed. The rain also left hundreds of Indian supporters, who had flown in from various cities in the United States, dejected. A wet welcome to Kingston was least expected. Even for the monsoon season, this was a quite an unusual happening. Four days of rain at a stretch was a new experience for people in Jamaica. With the forecast for Sunday gloomy too, the possibility of the second match being held is also remote. Meanwhile, the umpires for the second game was announced. Messrs David Sheperd will do duty with Billy Doctrove in the middle, with Ed Nichols being the third umpire. The ground staff had employed all kind of methods available to dry the pitch. To fight the heavy rain, a marquee was set up and the staff worked underneath. But absence of sunshine thwarted all their attempts. Match Referee Mike Procter had sounded optimistic on the eve of the match. ``We can squeeze in a shortened version provided there was no more rain", he had said. To counter the soggy outfield, the Match Referee spoke of bringing the boundary in but a fresh spell of shower this morning washed away all such plans. Such was the intensity of the rain on Saturday that the teams did not even bother to come to the ground. Quite similar to the final day of the first Test at Georgetown when play was called off even before the teams had left the hotel. Rain and cricket have a close rapport. Some venues have been notorious and countless matches ruined because of the rain factor. Not just rain, there have been times when poor drying facilities have left the teams and the spectators frustrated. Matches at Kandy and Galle in Sri Lanka and Georgetown have been known to be badly affected by rain. In Kandy it is said that to invite rain, all you need to do is just peg the stumps! The Sabina Park, a majestic venue by any standard, presented a picture of a strange mix of modern and tradition. The modern super sopper was engaged in the drying up of the pitch to make the ground playable but ultimately it proved futile. And what an irony it was! The announcement of the match being abandoned sent the fans packing home and the sun broke out, as if to momentarily mock at cricket. As the Sabina Park basked in sunshine, hopes, even if bleak, rose of a game on Sunday.
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