New twist to Chatsworth fiasco

The fiasco of India's three-day tour game against a President's XI in Chatsworth took a new twist on Tuesday when a statement from the KwaZulu-Natal Cricket Union officially abandoning the game was contradicted. It now appears that an inspection of the water-logged outfield will take place on Wednesday to see whether some play might be possible after the first two days of the game were abandoned.

No one, however, believes this is likely, and officials from the KZNCU claimed that equipment borrowed by the Chatsworth organisers had already been returned to Kingsmead.

The affair has been a debacle from start to finish and might have been comical had it not so disrupted India's preparations for the first Test match which starts in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

Although the sun has shone in Durban for the last three days and club cricket was played in and around the city on Sunday, the Chatsworth outfield has defied what attempts have been made to dry it out. There are drainage problems at the ground, but, as umpire Wilf Diedricks pointed out, it might have helped had the grass in the outfield been cut now and again.

The fixture was allocated to Chatsworth, which is not a first-class ground, after community leaders formed action committees and threatened protest marches when it was learned that no World Cup matches would be played at the venue.

As a sop, the Indians (who will be based in Durban ahead of the World Cup) were sent to Chatsworth to warm up for the Test series, but the folly of bowing to a form of emotional and political blackmail has now become all too apparent.

This is not the first time that a team touring South Africa has been subjected to inadequate organisation and sub-standard facilities. Last year New Zealand were required to play a one-day game in Alice on a pitch that would not have passed muster in a schools' match. In the event, the captains agreed not to use their quicker bowlers for fear of injury, but no lessons from this seem to have been learned.

In the meantime, India practised at Kingsmead on Tuesday afternoon, but their real problem lies in the fact that those members of the party who flew in at the weekend will almost certainly have to go into the first Test without having had a bat or bowl in South African conditions.

Would this be a problem for players such as Connor Williams, Indian coach John Wright was asked. "Well," he said wryly, "they're all in the same boat aren't they."