Barbados ruled out

There are no suitable words to truly describe the wretched feeling of the Barbados cricket team this morning.

And after their elimination from the Red Stripe Bowl following persistent showers that ruined their semifinal against Jamaica here yesterday, an emotional captain Philo Wallace gained support from Courtney Walsh in calling for a review of the tournament rules.

Host country Jamaica clinched a place in todays final against the Leeward Islands on the strength of their superior record in the preliminaries, but Wallace and Walsh were of the view that cricket had lost out.

It was the second successive year Barbados endured the disappointment of bowing out at the semifinal stage after no result was possible. In this case, not a ball was bowled.

What can I say There isnt anything I can say. I feel badly. I dont feel like doing anything else now, Wallace said moments after the match was officially abandoned at 1 p.m. (2 p.m. Barbados time).

The day is just going to waste away for all of us. We were so geared up for this game. It is hard to describe the feelings.

It was a very frustrating day for both teams and the 3 000 spectators at the Kaiser Sports Club whose only entertainment came from two deejays playing mainly reggae music.

There were signs of encouragement during the day, but there were as many as four brief, and at times heavy showers that kept the players indoors.

The covers were removed on three occasions and at one stage, it was decided that a 33-overs-a-side match would be started at 12:30 p.m.

Within minutes, however, the rain returned to prevent any possibility of starting the match at 1:45 p.m., the latest a match can start in order to accommodate a contest of 25-overs-per-team.

There was no more rain after the match was called off, but by then, the outfield was too wet.

The outspoken and supremely confident Wallace said the team was going to dedicate their victory to the late Malcolm Marshall, the great West Indies fast bowler who was captain of Barbados when they last won the regional one-day championship in 1988.

We were going to beat Jamaica. There are no two ways about it, he said. I honestly think we are the best side in the competition. We were the best prepared side.

Last season, when Barbados were similarly affected at the semifinal stage at the same venue on Jamaicas north coast, Wallace made a call for reserve days to be set aside for the semifinal, a statement which he repeated yesterday.

The competition is okay, but we just need a bit more planning, he said.

An additional day is only provided for the final.

If we are going to play in a one-day competition in the rainy season, there must be reserve days set aside for the semifinals because the semifinals are going to be crucial for both sides.

We play by rules and we live by rules, but I think we need to look at the rules in a situation like this.

Barbados missed out on a place in the final because Jamaica managed three wins to their two in the first phase of the competition in which the teams played in different zones, countries and against different opposition.

There was sympathy for Barbados from Walsh, who also suggested that a reserve day could have been utilised.

I know there is going to be disappointment in the Barbados camp, he said. I dont think anyone wants a game of cricket to be decided by the weather.

Walsh said that matches should be continued and not re-started on the second day, as was the case in England.

If the game could have started later this evening and (produced) a result tomorrow (today) and still have 50 good overs, fine, he said.

If tomorrow comes and you have to shorten the game, then so be, but I dont think you want to have a reserve day to stop and start the game. You want to have two days to finish a one-day game.