Antigua offers grounds for hope

STOP LAUGHING at the back. Cricket is a well run sport. The governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), runs the game for the benefit of all and not for the vested interests of its most powerful members, every country manages to put on excellent tours and facilities and if it ever fails in this there is true and just accountability.

Oh to live in such a utopia but before we get too entrenched in our "Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells" mode we should remember the farce last summer of the abandoned one-day international in Cardiff. Remember, Cardiff hosts the first Ashes Test this July despite having no track record of successful hosting and without the new ground being given a number of years to settle.

So we can laugh or cry at the complete ineptitude of the Antiguan Cricket Board and government but the truth is the ECB, English cricket's governing body, is almost as incompetent.

However, to recap, this latest shambles almost defies comprehension. The history of the Sir Vivian Richards cricket ground should have warned that a calamity was due. It was built for the 2007 World Cup by Chinese money and contractors – goodness knows what minerals or vote they squeezed for it – and suffered grumblings during that competition. This was meant to be it's second Test match and after the first last spring against Australia the outfield was completely dug up due to poor drainage. The fact that the ground was built away from the cricketing heritage of the capital St John's and on a swamp probably did not help.

It would have made sense for the ground to be thoroughly tested before a Test match. Local clubs could have used it over a weekend and given a true assessment of its suitability and if the players had been able to practice on it in the days before the scheduled start then preparations for relocating the Test to the old Recreation Ground would have been well advanced.

Instead the match referee Alan Hurst claimed it was "unsuitable but not unfit" and the crowd, many of whom have paid thousands of pounds for their trip, were left with no cricket and quite probably resentment towards the island and cricket.

How anybody ever thought that outfield was fit for play is astounding? A cursory run-out on any of the preceding days would have given all the information the authorities needed to embark upon crisis management and so whoever was responsible should be sacked.

Not Tony Merrick though. The groundsman, a former fast bowler for Kent and Warwickshire, looked to have produced a fine wicket but in a curious state of affairs he is not responsible for the outfield. It is a bit like the groundsman at Manchester United's Old Trafford ground being responsible for the middle of the pitch but the two penalty boxes being contracted out to someone else. Ludicrous.

At least there was a reasonably swift response and the match has been shifted to the Recreation Ground and starts today.

And England should be praised for being so keen to get the game relocated and started. Partly this is because, as Alastair Cook said, "we are one-nil down in the series and need to play cricket", but also because the England team have good relations with their travelling fans and try to give good value. Not always on the pitch of course, as last week's second innings 51 proved, but certainly the players mingle well in the hotels and towns they visit.

They might be too tired to do so this coming week, though, if their previous efforts at the Recreation Ground are revisited. It was here that Brian Lara produced his two highest Test scores, the world records 375 in 1994 and 400 in 2004. If Chris Gayle was in devilish mood he would suggest a comeback.

Indeed it was a shame when the ICC decided this charismatic old ground was not suitable for the World Cup. The crowd was always plentiful and knowledgeable, the famous double decker stand reverberated all day to reggae and Gravy, a local character dressed in vivid costumes, entertained with a series of dances and moves.

It was an eccentric, delightful place for visiting teams. For years the ground staff were also peculiar, coming from the neighbouring prison whose warder was Malcolm Richards, father of Sir Viv.

It has not hosted a Test since 2006, though, and Gayle was slightly sceptical on Friday about its fitness to stage a five-day match.

"We practised there but take into consideration the field wasn't up to standard there as well," he said. "It was a bit bumpy – I gather there's a lot of football played there. Even the wicket has a couple of ridges so you have some uneven bounce."

England should grasp that and attack this game with a desperation that has been absent for far too long. Finally Ian Bell has been dropped and a few others put on notice. If they limp rather than leap again there should be wholesale changes. This relocated Test has given some an opportunity to force a win. If the pitch is uneven it will demand discipline from both batsmen and bowlers, some courage and a willingness to command a match. And all will be delighted that the haphazard referral system will not be used due to the difficulties for the TV companies in relocating and setting up operations in such little time. So a hark back to tradition. An old ground, umpires' decisions on the field being final and England struggling in the Caribbean.

All we need is some dreadful administrators and we could be back in the Seventies or Eighties. Oh, we have them too, after all that's why the match is starting today, two days late.

CRICKET'S OTHER DAYS OF FARCE

THE OVAL TEST

Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq refused to lead his team back on to the pitch after a break for bad light on the fourth day of the fourth Test against England. He was infuriated by umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove who docked his team five runs for what they deemed to be ball tampering. The match was awarded to England but the ICC then declared it a draw before awarding it back to England earlier this month.

RUM DO IN JAMAICA

England's players were hit seven times in 10 overs by West Indies quickies Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose at Sabina Park in 1998. Both sides decided to call the Test off, citing a dangerously hard surface.

A DARK DAY

The 2007 World Cup culminated at the Kensington Oval with a final between Australia and Sri Lanka. Batting second and knowing they were destined for certain defeat, the Sri Lankans came off the field as bad light descended, only to be ushered back on to complete the match in almost total darkness.

VERY LIMITED OVERS

Last year's Twenty20 Cup game between Durham and Yorkshire was postponed just five minutes before the start of play because the Tykes had fielded the ineligible 17-year-old Azeem Rafiq in the group stages.