ALL SET FOR MATCH BETWEEN WEST INDIES AND AUSTRALIA NEXT WEEK

By David Harris

Preparations are going exceptionally well for the first Test between the West Indies and Australia which bowls off at Kensington Oval next week Wednesday says cricket operation and development manager of the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) Wendell Coppin. 

 “The West Indies are currently conducting a training camp at Kensington Oval, and the preparation of field and pitch have gone extremely well. We have been planning the staging of the Test match at the Oval for some time now and had put plans in place to have the square fully grassed, and the preparation of the pitch and the outfield after a number of cultural events at the Oval. We have implemented all of our plans and are going full steam ahead”, Coppin told Advo Magazine. 

 Coppin said several lessons were learn about the preparations of the pitches at the Oval in 2024. 

“We learned a number of lessons last year in terms of preparations of the pitch. We relayed the pitches before the T20 World Cup and as the tournament progress, the pitches got better. Since then, our strategy for the preparations of pitches have changed, we are watering them more; and the type of roller that we are using and the different times of the day that the pitches are rolled have changed slightly. I believed that we are going to have good pitch and field when the Test match starts next Wednesday”, Coppin said. 

According to Coppin, it is challenging to get the outfield at the Oval ready for international matches after entertainment events at the venue, but there is a process in the preparation of the ground. 

“Grass growth takes a while and there nothing that can be done to speed it up. It takes about 12 weeks to have good grass with a heathy root structure, good stems and good leaves. The procedure cannot be fast track-it is something that we have to manage”, Coppin said.”  Thankfully we have experts in this area who worked with some of the best golf courses in the region helping us, and there are still on board with us providing assistance. Those lessons that we learned in 2024 have taught us how to produce better pitches and managed the field after entertainment events at the venue.  We are now in a better position in terms of recovery from major events at the Oval.”. 

Coppin said there are a couple of areas on the outfield that that still have sand on them: “These areas are minuscule, we have about 95 percent coverage of grass on the outfield. The field and pitch should be good for Test cricket”.  

On the topic of this year BCA’s Elite competition which started a month earlier in April instead of May, Coppin said the number of centuries (14) scored so far by the batsmen is positive result of the early start to the season. 

“You only have to look at the number of centuries that have been scored which is an indication that the batsmen had better pitches to play on, as a result of that the runs and centuries that have been scored have transform batting in a domestic season. Another benefit of starting the competition early is that the season should finish in 2025 and not be prolonged into 2026; those are two of the clear benefits that we can see coming out of starting the season early”, he explained. 

Coppin clarify the reason for the suspension of the Elite Division at the end of the fifth series on June 8th, until September 13.  

“We paused the multi –day format, and the reason for stopping the season is because we wanted to give ample opportunity for our local cricketers to go and watch the One Day International (ODI) and T20I series between the West Indies’ women team and South Africa at the Three Ws Oval, and the Test against Australia”, Coppin said. The West Indies have not been the strongest team in recent years; but we believe that with a bit of support our players will feel the love and warm of the Barbadian public, therefore we expect that the cricket loving public and our local cricketers will go to the matches between the West Indies women and South Africa and the Test match”. 

He explained that during the pause of in multi-day cricket the T20 tournament involving the Elite and Division One teams will continue, but there will be a break for the Crop Over Festival. 

“During the break multi day cricketT20 will continue, there has always been a break for Crop Over. We don’t believe that we should be competing with a national festival, we had many years when teams have complained that they players have gone off to Wet Fetes and Soca on The Hill and a number of different Crop Over activities and some of the bigger and establish clubs have struggle, and when you look at it, in countries where there is a national event for example football is not played in Brazil during the days their carnival, and in Trinidad sporting activities don’t take on the two days their carnival is held”, Coppin said.” Coppin said. 

 “Crop Over is a national festival and the cricketers who are playing cricket on weekend want to participate in the festival. Therefore- we felt that the best thing to do was to allow the national festival to take precedence, and restart cricket at the end of Crop Over after the cricketers had enjoyed themselves and come back after the season. Refresh and full of vigor to play cricket”, he added.