Arnos Vale gets first T-20 Internationals

For the first time ever, St Vincent and the Grenadines will host T-20 International cricket matches at the Arnos Vale Playing Field.{{more}}

The historic matches will be played on July 27 and 28 between Pakistan and reigning World T-20 champions, the West Indies.

Opened in 1973, the Arnos Vale Playing Field has hosted 23 One Day Internationals, with the first staged in 1981.

The venue has hosted test matches in 1987 and 2009, the first being West Indies versus Sri Lanka and the latter, West Indies against Bangladesh.

The hosting of the T-20 internationals here will, however, affect the track and field component of the CBN/Winlott Inc Windward Islands Secondary School Games, which had been scheduled for Saturday, July 27, at the same venue.

Reports are that local organisers have been forced to adjust their programme, with track and field rescheduled for Monday 29.

Over the 40 years since the Arnos Vale venue was commissioned, it has seen its fair share of cricket matches.

The packed cricket agenda saw two regional four-day matches, two super-50 matches, the unofficial second test between West Indies A and Sri Lanka A, as well as two scheduled T-20 matches; however, one was rained out.

Additionally, the venue hosted six matches in the Windward Islands Under-15 tournament.

Apart from the two T-20 matches, the West Indies and Pakistan are scheduled to play five One Day Internationals — two at the Guyana National Stadium and three at the Beausejour Cricket Stadium in St Lucia.

The One Day International matches in Guyana are set for July 14 and 16, while July 19, 21 and 24 are the dates for the third, fourth and fifth matches in the series.

Originally Pakistan was supposed to play a full series in the West Indies from July to August, but the WICB has now decided to hold a tri-series, involving India and Sri Lanka and also launch the Caribbean Premier League in August, forcing Pakistan to amend its tour.(RT)