Crack at Brits

A West Indian team may soon have the chance at winning an English domestic cricket trophy.

The West Indies 'A' team is expected to tour England next year and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) have been in discussions about the possibility of the visitors playing in one of England's leading competitions.

It comes against the background of the England 'A' team participating in the ongoing regional Busta Series.

The length of the English county first-class championships would make it difficult for a visiting team to compete, but it would be practical to accommodate a West Indies team in either the Benson & Hedges Cup or the Trophy (formerly NatWest Trophy) limited-overs competitions.

'We agreed in principle that we would look at this and we are going to be working towards concluding an agreement,' WICB Chief Executive Officer Gregory Shillingford told Weekendsport in a recent interview.

He added that the proposal to play in one of the English competitions originated from the ECB.

'They made the suggestion to us, recognising the benefits that they themselves would have accrued from coming here for the Busta Cup.

'It would not have been tenable for our 'A' team to participate in the county championships given the length of the championships.

'However, we could participate in the NatWest or the Benson and Hedges . . . actually playing for points and winning a cup.'

The English county championships, which involve mainly four-day matches, usually run from April to September, but the One-Day competition can be slotted over a limited number of playing days.

When it was first announced that the English 'A' team would be playing in the Busta Series, there was a hue and cry around the Caribbean. It is now believed that idea has been accepted.

'It [England `A's participation] has been useful, not only to the WICB, but to the territorial teams themselves in terms of the level of competition they have come up against,' Shillingford said.