St. John's Antigua - Just prior to engaging Nevis in the semi finals of the recently concluded NAGICO one day series, Wilden Cornwall, the outspoken Captain of the Antigua team shared his views with Nevis Television channel 8 on the state of affairs with cricket in the Leeward Islands.
Cornwall listed a number of factors that required immediate attention:
1. While playing in Anguilla, the score board was not operational and so the cricketers had to be constantly updated via messages sent from the pavilion. Whenever the Anguilla team was playing however, there was a show of patriotism, as several school boys volunteered to keep score on the score board.
He even noticed this show of patriotism in the covering of the pitch when rain fell. Dozens of spectators ran out to help to cover the pitch when Anguilla was playing but when there was a similar occurrence when two other teams were engaged, only about four persons were left struggling with the covers. Cornwall feels that such matters should have been properly organized by the Leewards Board well in advance of the tournament.
2. For the preliminary matches played in Anguilla there were no selectors available to have a look at the players. The selectors only showed up for the final rounds of matches in St.Maarten. Cornwall was obviously upset about such scant regard for the players and noted that if we want to get players back on the West Indies team and maintain the legacy that has been established, that this is not the way to go.
3. Another major concern for the powerful allrounder was the fact that the expertise to deal with the Duckworth /Lewis system when required was generally unavailable. As far as he knows, the only person who had such expertise during the entire tournament was his Antiguan scorer. “Suppose he was sick”? Cornwall asked. “The Board needs to get its act together if we are going to go forward”, he stated matter of factly.
When questioned about his future in cricket, Cornwall stated that at the present time he is enjoying his game. “I train hard and will take it wherever it leads—and if I can pull some youngsters along with me, all well and good”.
He mentioned several players who he believes have the potential to go all the way in the not too distant future: Shane Burton, Kadeem Phillip and Rahkeem Cornwall from Antigua, along with Kieran Powell, Chesney Hughes and Montcin Hodge.
Antigua News