Roberts and Holding defend 20/20 timing

A second, even glitzier edition of the Stanford 20/20 tournament, to be seen by millions worldwide, gets underway under lights at billionaire organiser Allen Stanford's cricket ground in Coolidge.

The Cayman Islands, coached by former Trinidad and Tobago captain Theo Cuffy, and the fully-professional St Lucia side, prepared by former West Indies coach and player Roger Harper, will bowl off a five-week competition that comes in the midst of the regional first-class season.

The Carib Beer Series has been suspended after three rounds to accommodate 20/20, a move which has been lamented by Colin Murray, Carib's representative, and West Indies captain Ramnaresh Sarwan. They argue that the timing is all wrong with Test series against Sri Lanka and Australia approaching.

But the arguments against the timing are not being bought by two Windies legends. Andy Roberts, the former fast bowler and current selectors, says: "It is not a valid argument, it's a cop-out." Explaining his position, Roberts asked rhetorically: "Why is it that in the 70s and 80s West Indies dominated all forms of the game? Why is it Australia dominate both one-day and Test matches and nobody is saying the one-day form is having a problem with their Test cricket?

"It all has to do with our thinking. And that's what we need to develop in our players, the ability to think on their feet. It is an advantage that you are constantly playing cricket. You are playing every day, so you must psychologically become better at what you do."

Roberts' old new ball partner, Michael Holding, also dismissed the opposition to the tournament's timing. "One thing I will say about that, it's not the first time, and I don't think it will be the last time that it will be happening when you see one tournament starting, breaking and then resuming after a period of time, and I don't want to start intimating why now we are getting complaints. But I will say again, it is not the first time it has happened and, more than likely, it won't be the last."

Going further, Holding said the mixing of the longer and shorter formats of the game was not necessarily a bad thing. "What has happened in international cricket is what you would hope-they would play all limited overs cricket first and then Test cricket, or all Test cricket first and then limited overs cricket. When in an ideal world you can afford to do that, that is great, but if you cannot you afford to do that, things have to be changed a little bit, to suit one thing or the other. Cricketers should be able to adapt."