Arnos Vale Playing Field misses out

The Arnos Vale Playing Field will next year miss out on international cricket.{{more}}

When the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) released the 2011 itinerary, which involves Pakistan and India, this country’s main international cricket venue, was not listed.

West Indies and Pakistan will clash from April 21 to May 24 in a lone T/20 fixture, five One Day Internationals (ODI) and two Test matches.

The West Indies plays against India in one T/20 international, five ODIs and three Test from June 4 to July 10.

Kensington Oval in Barbados, the Guyana National Stadium at Providence, the Beausejour Stadium in St. Lucia, the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda’s Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, St. Kitts’ Warner Park, and Windsor Park in Dominica are the venues listed for the matches.

Dominica first hosted international cricket in 2009, when West Indies played Bangladesh in two ODIs at Windsor Park, but this time around goes a step further, when it will get its first Test match, the third Test of the West Indies versus India series, from July 6-10.

Apart from the Arnos Vale facility, the Grenada National Stadium has not been included as a host venue.

During the 2010 international tours to the Caribbean, St. Vincent and the Grenadines hosted an unprecedented three One-Day Internationals in March, when the West Indies engaged Zimbabwe.

It was revealed that following the three matches, this country received a bad report card from the WICB.

However, subsequently, the venue saw West Indies A and Pakistan A playing two unofficial tests, with the second and last one being completed last Saturday.

In total, 20 ODI’s have been contested at the Arnos Vale Playing Field, from 1981 to 2010.

One of the West Indies’ most successful grounds, the regional side has triumphed there in 17, including 13 consecutive wins from 1994 to 2004.

Additionally, the picturesque facility has seen two Test matches.

The first was in 1997, when the West Indies faced Sri Lanka, and the other last year, when the regional team faced Bangladesh in controversial circumstances, as several first-choice players had opted out, citing players’ contracts as the main reason. (RT)