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West Indies v England, 4th ODI, Grenada
Yet another washout
Wisden Cricinfo staff
April 28, 2004
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Paul Collingwood lies on the floor after breaking his nose after running into a post while playing basketball
© Getty Images
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After a week of heavy downpours, the fourth one-dayer in Grenada went the way of the previous two, and was abandoned. Heavy rain in the morning yesterday, compounded by showers in the afternoon, meant that at dusk on the eve of the match the outfield at Queen's Park was saturated. Further showers today ruled out the possibility of even a 30-overs knockabout.
The umpires were worried enough to inspect the ground at 5pm last night. They quickly came to the conclusion that there was no chance of a prompt start, and by 9am this morning, the match was abandoned. It is a massive blow to the cricket-mad population - more than 10,000 tickets had been sold for the match on an island where the total population is around 90,000.
The mood of the players was not helped when they were told that conditions in St Lucia, where there are back-to-back matches this weekend, were also poor after more heavy rain. Even Barbados, where the final game is to be played in a week's time on May 5, is wet. Of all the Caribbean islands, that is the one where good weather can usually be guaranteed at this time of year.
The England camp is struggling to stay upbeat after two washouts last weekend. "I've never known such a period in my career," shrugged Marcus Trescothick. "You might lose a game in England or a National League match but I've never known anything like this when the forecast is consistently bad for the next week. Who knows, it could potentially rain for the rest of the games. It's not the ideal situation but if we are still leading the series 1-0 by the time we get on the plane home next Thursday I'm sure we won't be that worried about it."
England's increasingly desperate attempts to stay fit - including head tennis - backfired on Paul Collingwood yesterday when he broke his nose in an accident playing basketball.
Trescothick admitted that boredom was causing problems. "We just have to do what we can, when we can," he said. "It is a case of anything to get the blood flowing, to stop us feeling lazy and lethargic in our rooms."
© Cricinfo
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