No hard feelings towards Bajans (27 April 1999)

27 April 1999

No hard feelings towards Bajans

The Barbados Nation

Australian cricket officials appear willing to forgive Barbados after Sunday's crowd-affected seventh One-day International at Kensington Oval.

But they are not so lenient with Guyana where an invasion of the Bourda ground ruined the result of the fifth One-Dayer.

''We won't be going back to Guyana unless things change,'' said Australia Cricket Board (ACB) spokesman Michael Hogan. ''Barbados isn't quite the same situation, as Malcolm (Speed) says the Bajans are very enthusiastic and easy-going cricket lovers.

''Today's events seem to be outside of the normal behavioural patterns in Barbados.''

Hogan said, however, that the board considered the events of last week and Sunday as ''totally unacceptable".

The Barbados crowd pelted the Australian team with bottles after a controversial run-out of Sherwin Campbell.

One flying bottle missed Australian captain Steve Waugh's head by inches in the second example of crowd unrest in the West Indies in five days.

He said ACB chief executive Malcolm Speed would raise safety fears with the West Indies Cricket Board as well as at an International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting in London next month.

Australian Cricketers' Association president Tim May said he was disgusted but not surprised by the crowd problems.

He called on the ICC to establish a committee to rate all international venues on security factors. May said grounds failing to meet required standards should be stripped of matches.

''There is a legal obligation to minimise the risk of injury,'' May said. ''The ICC can come in and say (to ground managers) 'if you don't measure up, you don't play'. They should rate all international venues with a risk factor."

Source :: The Barbados Nation (https://www.nationnews.com/)