Caribbean welcomes ‘new age’

No fans allowed, no saliva on the ball and hand sanitisers on the boundary ropes. Welcome to cricket during coronavirus as it is being played out in the Caribbean this week.

Six teams are taking part in the Vincy T10 Premier League at the picturesque Arnos Vale venue near Kingstown, the main city on St Vincent.

Though low key in the global affairs of international cricket, it is the first tournament to be staged in a Test-playing region since the advent of the coronavirus pandemic.

At first it was hoped spectators would be allowed as the risk of infection was considered to be extremely low in a country with just 18 recorded cases.

“The St Vincent and Grenadines Cricket Association would have preferred a limited number of spectators, maybe 300 or 500 max in the stadium,” said association president

Kishore Shallow. “However, the experts expressed some initial concerns and advised that we attempt to regularise the management of players before we consider having spectators.”

Local fans had hoped to see home star Sunil Ambris, one of six “marquee players” in the tournament, which runs until May 31.

“Yes, I could understand the frustration but I appreciate the preference of [the health authority] that they do not want to encourage social gatherings,” added Shallow.

Ambris must be thinking he is cursed in his career. When he made his Test debut for the West Indies in a series in New Zealand in 2017, he became the first player in the long history of the game to be dismissed “hit wicket” in two consecutive innings.

On Friday, playing for the Salt Pond Breakers, at least the 27year-old had the satisfaction of claiming two wickets in a win against Grenadines Divers.

The performance of the day, however, was by Desron Maloney, whose 19-ball 41 helped La Soufriere Hikers to victory over Botanical Garden Rangers.

The tournament is also the first to take place with bowlers banned from applying saliva to the ball. The game’s rulers are outlawing the practice as part of the battle against the spread of coronavirus.

Other safety measures see hand sanitisers situated on the boundary as well as temperature checks. Umpires are wearing face masks.

The cricinfo website reported that the fall of wickets was greeted by the shaking of legs and punching of the ground rather than a series of high fives. /

NO FANS ALLOWED, NO SALIVA ON THE BALL AND HAND SANITISERS ON THE BOUNDARY ROPES