Captains were prepared to carry on but safety came first
NORTH SOUND, Antigua (CMC) – Chris Gayle and Andrew Strauss were prepared to carry on, but safety came first, and this led to the abandonment of the second Test between West Indies and England yesterday at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground.

For the second time in history, a Test match in the Caribbean was abandoned, when a clearly dangerous outfield at the VRCG prompted officials to cancel the match.

Jerome Taylor had already protested at the southern end, and changed his line of attack from over to around the wicket after three balls of the first over of the match.

“It is embarrassing,” West Indies captain Chris Gayle told reporters. “I can only apologise to the spectators. It was a huge turnout. Everybody wanted to see this Test. It is always good to play against England and it is disappointing to see these things happen.

“I was not saying too much, it was left in the two umpires’ hands, and they were prepared to make the decision,” he said.

“I can only support their decision at this time. It was beyond my control. Strauss wanted to play cricket as well, but the bowlers we not comfortable at all.

“Having stuck England in to bat, we wanted to pick up some early wickets, especially coming after the victory we had at Kingston, and we wanted to keep the momentum going, so it is disappointing to break like this.

Strauss said the abandonment was a bit of a psychological setback for England too, having come into the match trailing 0-1, following their innings and 23-run defeat in Jamaica.

But he understood the situation clearly and found it impossible to take a hard line since England were batting.

“But the umpires felt it was unfit, and felt the West Indies’ bowlers could not deliver anywhere near full pace with those run-ups in the condition they were.

Strauss indicated that England had raised concerns before the match, after some of the players had a trial run on the ground the previous day.

“Some of our bowlers had a run-out on the outfield, and they said it was pretty hard going,” he said.

“Clearly, the West Indies bowlers tried to do this, but in the two overs, they had to start their run-up to the wicket four or five times, so it did not look satisfactory, and if you are going to play a Test match, it has to be in conditions that are fair, and if a bowler can only bowl at half pace, that’s not fair.”

A new Test match is to be staged at the Antigua Recreation Ground, starting tomorrow.

In keeping with the precedent of the abandoned Test match 10 years ago at Sabina Park, the new Test will become the third Test of what will now be a five-Test series with the records for the second Test remaining.