West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) chief executive Ernest Hilaire believes that if more cricket was played at Kensington Oval the ground would not have run into the problems that brought a scathing report from International Cricket Council (ICC) pitch consultant Andy Atkinson.
“What has happened at Kensington is that, because they haven’t been using the pitch often, they haven’t been constantly working on it and fixing it,” Hilaire explained.
And the situation is not confined to Kensington alone.
“I think that’s a problem all the grounds around the region face,” he added.
Conde Riley, vice-president of the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA), noted that while there were at least 180 days of cricket a year at all levels at Kensington before it was redeveloped for the 2007 World Cup and its administration taken over by a government agency, Kensington Oval Manage-ment Inc (KOMI). Since then, there have been no more than 30 days cricket on the ground.
Hilaire accepted that Atkinson’s critical observations about the condition of the pitch block at Kensington, made after an on-site inspection last month leading up to next year’s World Twenty20 championship in the Caribbean, were “genuine and right”. But, he stated that it is “no big issue”.
“There is a remedial programme in place to put in some top soil, let it settle for a few weeks, put in some more top soil and get it right,” he said. “That’s what will happen over the next year or two.”
He noted the process was the same when the Beausejours Stadium in St.Lucia, with which he was closely associated. was opened in 2002.
He advised against engaging in a fight with the ICC over the matter.
“Just explain to them the normal issue, that the pitch is going through its normal settling period, and just move on,” he said. “It’s not a crisis. It’s just a question of doing it.”
But he felt that if there was more regular cricket at Kensington, the authorities would have been gradually assessing the situation.
“I know the Barbados Cricket Association has said more and more to KOMI that they should allow more cricket there,” he added. “Because it is now a multi-purpose facility, and perhaps because of the costs, it seems as if they’re having less cricket and more other activities.”
Club cricket is no longer played on the ground as it was when it was home to Pickwick club from 1882 to 2004. In that time, it also hosted regional football, cycling, athletics and even a Davis Cup tennis tie between the West Indies and the U.S. as well as various cultural events.
