Under-15 in doubt (20 August 1999)

20 August 1999

Under-15 in doubt

The Barbados Nation

THE West Indies under-15 cricket championship may be cancelled without a ball being bowled.

The reason? Rain in Guyana, though this time it is being labelled unseasonal.

The youngsters from Barbados and the five other participating countries have been holed up in their hotels as the first round of two-day matches was washed out completely.

Prospects for play are dim for the second round of matches scheduled for tomorrow and Sunday again because of rain.

A decision on the future of the tournament will be made on Sunday, said a disappointed president of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), Chetran Singh.

He told the Caribbean News Agency yesterday that he was in constant contact with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) on the situation.

Barbados team manager Ezra Moseley, contacted last night by WEEKENDSPORT, was unaware that the tournament might be jeopardy. "The guys are fine but they are disappointed that there has been no play. We are hoping that the weather holds so that we can get some match play this weekend," he said.

Moseley said that the rain fell heavily yesterday morning but had stopped by dusk.

The team had kept busy by going to gym and playing some tapeball cricket there, he added.

Singh still held out some hope that the rain will cease and the players will get in at least three rounds of matches.

The GCB boss pointed out that the WICB was footing the bill following the withdrawal of the previous sponsors and could ill-afford to have players and officials idling.

He also said cancellation would be sad for youngsters who had prepared for months and might never get another chance to represent their countries.

The tournament was originally due to start on August 11 but was pushed back a week because of bad weather.

After a period of sun, the rain returned and completely washed out the scheduled opening day's play on Wednesday. There was hope for some play yesterday but heavy overnight and early morning rain again made the grounds unsuitable for play.

In the first round matches, Guyana were to have played the Leewards at Enmore after the game was switched from Bourda; Barbados were to meet the Windwards at Uitvlugt after there was a switch from Everest; and Trinidad and Tobago were to have played Jamaica at LBI.

The scheduled second round matches are: Jamaica v Guyana at Everest; Windward Islands v Trinidad and Tobago at Uitvlugt and Leeward Islands v Barbados at Diamond.

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