Arnos Vale international cricket drought goes on

St Vincent and the Grenadines’ wait to host another international cricket match has been extended.

When Cricket West Indies last week announced the itinerary for the tour of associate member Afghanistan, Warner Park in St Kitts and the Darren Sammy Cricket Stadium in St Lucia were the venues listed for the two Twenty/20 Internationals and the three One-Day Internationals (ODI).

The T/20s are set for Warner Park, June 2, 3 and 5, while the ODIs take place at the Darren Sammy Cricket Stadium, June 9, 11 and 14.

The ODI matches are day/night affairs, set for commencement at 2:30 p.m., with the T/20s set to bowl off at 7 p.m.

Working against Arnos Vale’s chances and by extension SVG’s, are the absence of lights and the almost mandatory replay scoreboard.

At the recent National Sports Awards, St Vincent and the Grenadines’ Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, revealed that his government is pursuing the lighting of the Arnos Vale Playing Field.

“… In relation to the lighting of the Arnos Vale facility, that is something we would be in a position to do… Lighting is going to be fairly expensive down at Arnos Vale … I expect it to be over a million dollars, but I think we can raise the money to get it done,” Gonsalves said with optimism.

The last hosting of a ODI at the Arnos Vale venue was in March 2013, when Australia visited. In June of that same year, the venue had its debut for Twenty/20 internationals when Pakistan was hosted for two fixtures.

Arnos Vale’s last hosting of international cricket matches was in 2014, when the West Indies played Bangladesh in a Test match and West Indies women faced off with New Zealand in three Twenty/20 internationals.

The Arnos Vale venue has been a good hunting ground for the West Indies in ODIs. In all, Arnos Vale has hosted 23 ODIs, with the West Indies winning 18, losing four and one ending in a tie.