by Tony Cozier

WEST INDIES CRICKET BOARD (WICB) chief executive Ernest Hilaire believes that if more cricket was played at Kensington Oval the ground would not have brought a scathing report from International Cricket Council (ICC) pitch consultant Andy Atkinson.

Hilaire accepted that Atkinson's critical observations about the condition of the pitch block at Kensington Oval, made after an on-site inspection last month leading up to next year's World Twenty20 Championship in the Caribbean, were "genuine and right". But, he stated that it is "no big issue."

"What has happened at Kensington is that, because they haven't been using the pitch often, they haven't been constantly working on it and fixing it," he explained.

"There is a remedial programme in place to put in some top soil, let it settle for a few weeks, put in some more top soil and get it right," he said. "That's what will happen over the next year or two."

He noted the process was the same when the Beausejours Stadium in St Lucia, with which he was closely associated, was opened in 2002.

"Just explain to them [ICC] the normal issue, that the pitch is going through its normal settling period, and just move on," he said. "It's not a crisis. It's just a question of doing it."

But he felt that if there was more regular cricket at Kensington, the authorities would have been gradually addressing that problem.

"I think that's a problem all the grounds around the region face," he added.

"I know the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) has said more and more to KOMI (Kensington Oval Management Inc. which manages the ground) that they should allow more cricket there," he added. "Because it is now a multi-purpose facility, and perhaps because of the costs, it seems as if they're having less cricket and more other activities."

Yesterday, acting president of the Barbados Cricket Association Conde Riley said the BCA has already put measures in place to carry out the necessary remedial work.

"On November 6, we got two agronomists from the University of the West Indies to do an evaluation and make a report. They have made some recommendations which will be dealt with shortly after the CLOBI Cup, which finishes in early December," he said.

But Riley noted the jury is still out on what has caused the grass on a section of the outfield to die.

However, he said he has had the assurance from KOMI that they will start very shortly with the preparation of three additional practice pitches behind the Three Ws Stand, bringing the number of pitches there to eight.

He admitted that unlike in the past when there were at least 180 days of cricket at the Oval, there are now fewer than 25 days of cricket.

Riley said Barbados' two home matches in next year's regional first-class championship are also likely to be played at the Oval.

"We want to play these four-day matches on the square to ensure that we test the pitch before the Twenty20 World Cup. We would not leave it to chance," he said.

Last Sunday's Sagicor Cup final between Carlton and LIME was the first match at Kensington since BCA trials over a month earlier. Club cricket is no longer played on the ground as it was when it was home to Pickwick Club from 1882 to 2004.