Board to probe maligned track

– The Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board have launched an investigation after the fourth and final Test between the West Indies and India lasted just 22 overs due to a waterlogged outfield.

No play was possible at the Queen’s Park Oval on Monday’s scheduled final day, the fourth consecutive day on which there was no play because of saturated areas around the playing square.

The farcical situation arose despite long periods of sunshine and desperate efforts of groundstaff to make the surface playable with shovels, pitchforks and leaf blowers.

With the match abandoned as a draw, India won the series 2-0, the first time they have won more than one Test in a series in the Caribbean.

However the Indians surrendered the position of No 1 Test team in the ICC rank- ings to Pakistan as they had needed to complete a 3-0 series triumph to stay top.

India had been No 1 for less than a week after displacing Australia at the top on August 17.

“The Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board and QPCC (Queen’s Park Cricket Club) regret that limited play was possible in the 4th Test match between WI and India at the Queen’s Park Oval,” board president Azim Bassarath said in a statement.

“We have launched an investigation to determine what occurred with a view to remedying the situation so it does not occur in the future,” the statement continued.

The teams will play two Twenty20 Internationals in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Saturday and Sunday as both teams seek to tap into the huge expatriate Indian population in the United States. – AFP