Bassarath: Cricket officials in Barbados knew

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):

Cricket West Indies (CWI) vice-president Azim Bassarath said he is shocked by the response from Barbadian officials regarding Kensington Oval’s exclusion from hosting regional or international matches in 2026.

After it was recently revealed that none of the matches in the upcoming home series against Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Pakistan would be played at ‘The Mecca’, Prime Minister Mia Mottley and Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) president, Calvin Hope, both spoke out, saying they were disappointed by CWI’s decision.

However, Bassarath has revealed that cricket officials in Barbados were informed months ago of CWI’s plans to host matches in Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Antigua, and Guyana.

He said it therefore came as a complete shock to hear the complaints from both Mottley and Hope.

“Everyone knows the situation CWI is in at the present time financially. When the board sat and made the decision that we were going to host New Zealand in Guyana for all the white-ball games, we decided that the Pakistan tour would take place in Trinidad, we decided when Sri Lanka comes that they would play all the white-ball in Jamaica and the two Tests in Antigua…and Barbados’ representatives sat in the meeting and not a word of objection came from them.

“So it was very surprising to us to hear afterwards about this talk about no games in Barbados. At the end of the meeting, we thought that all the board members were happy and they are satisfied with the recommendations made and I think that we went away from the meeting very comfortable, not knowing that a few months down the road that we were going to hear something of that nature,” Bassarath said during an interview on Isports on i95.5 FM on Thursday.