We intend to inquire from the West Indies Cricket Board

President of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Cricket Association (SVGCA) Julian Jack is baffled that this country has apparently been dropped as a host of international Cricket matches next year.{{more}}

When the hectic 2009 Cricket season begins in the region, St. Vincent and the Grenadines will not play host to any major international matches, even though an unprecedented three countries will be touring the Caribbean.

England, Bangladesh and India are slated to visit the region from January to July.

In all, there will be two tests, twelve One Day Internationals, and two Twenty/20 Internationals.

An obviously concerned Jack made his feelings known to SEARCHLIGHT last Sunday afternoon at the Sion Hill Playing Field during the finals of the Zonal Under-19 competition.

“Not that they have to give us a reason, but we intend to inquire from the West Indies Cricket Board why we were not given at least one match,” Jack said.

Jack said that First Vice President of the SVGCA Elson Crick, who is also a delegate from the Windwards Board to the WICB, told him that the issue of cost of travel to St. Vincent and the Grenadines was a determining factor.

But Jack is not buying that story, since, according to him, “It is the same cost or even higher to go to a place like Dominica”.

He also ruled out the possibility that we are being punished for the bottle throwing incident here in the One Day International on June 24 between West Indies and Australia.

Jack said that an inquiry into the incident was done and St. Vincent and the Grenadines got a passing grade for their security arrangements.

“We had to send a report on the incident and the case against St. Vincent and the Grenadines was dropped by the ICC, as we were found to put the proper measures in place,” Jack revealed.

“Let us know then if we are sanctioned for the incident,” he added.

Jack contended that his association found it “embarrassing” that this country had not been invited to a recent meeting of countries hosting the three international teams.

“All the others were informed and we were not,” Jack said, acknowledging that it was then that St. Vincent and the Grenadines realized that they had been axed from the itineraries.

The local Cricket boss said that the involvement of host territories in pre-event management training was a new move by the WICB.

This country has only the crumbs to feed on, as lowly rated Bangladesh is listed unofficially to play two warm up matches here.

For Jack, this is not satisfactory for St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which has spent millions of dollars in upgrading the Arnos Vale facility to meet minimum international requirements.

Reports, however, are that the Bangladesh itinerary has not yet been finalised, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines may yet be considered a venue for one of the ODI’s.

With an extended season, what is certain, though, is that the Arnos Vale venue will see two regional matches come its way.

The Windwards will meet the Combined Campuses and Colleges, as well as Trinidad and Tobago, in the Carib Beer Series.

In addition, Bermuda and Cuba will land here to face a St. Vincent and the Grenadines team in practice matches.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines was also among those who also did not submit bids to host matches in the 2010 Twenty/20 Cricket World Cup.

Jack said that this country was definitely out of contention, as night facilities were an important attribute to be considered as one of the three venues.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines has hosted 17 One Day Internationals since its first in 1981.

Of the 17 matches, the West Indies has been victorious in 14.

The lone test match involving the West Indies and Sri Lanka was played here was in 1997.

From 1993 to 2005, this country was a yearly fixture for One Day Internationals, involving the West Indies and the touring teams.