Sabina not ready for practice on eve of opener

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Mar 13 (Reuters) Pakistan and West Indies were forced to scrap plans to practise at Sabina Park, which hosts Tuesday's World Cup opener between the sides, because the net facilities were not ready.

They instead trained at the nearby Kensington Oval in Kingston. There was never any doubts about the pitch readiness at Sabina, just the practice facilities.

Former West Indian fast bowling great Andy Roberts, now a pitch consultant for the World Cup, said the net pitches had been used as a dumping ground while renovation work was done at Sabina.

''They were late with the grass wickets (in the nets) because of the construction as the nets are right behind the stand so they were not fully ready,'' Roberts told Reuters yesterday.

''I don't want to make excuses. The people building the stand had a lot of materials in the same area as where the nets are placed, like rough and steel, and that's why the nets were late.

''We had two or three months to get the nets ready and that's very difficult. It's very difficult for players to have proper nets on them (like that).

'LATE STAGE' ''There wasn't much panic,'' he added. ''It is something that should never have happened. But at this late stage there is no point trying to rush them for these games.

''What we need to do now is make sure they are ready for the semi-finals. In fact, they will be ready for the semi-finals but there won't be much grass on them.'' Reuters were unable to reach Jamaica Local Organising Committee chief executive Robert Bryan on his mobile phone.

Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer was philosophical about the problem at a news conference yesterday.

''If you're asking why it's happened you're talking to the wrong man,'' he said. ''We would rather practise on good facilities than facilities that are not ready.'' The West Indies were awarded the World Cup in 1998.

West Indies captain Brian Lara likened the problem to a ''little hiccup''.

''From what I have seen so far, all the local organising committees have tried their best,'' he told a news conference at the Oval.

''I think they know the importance of this tournament. Each big tournament and each event like the Olympics, although I have never been involved, they all have little hiccups. We just have to carry on.'' The world governing body, the International Cricket Council were not overly concerned by the practice facility issue and were instead pleased by what developments have been made at Sabina.

''The practice facilities at Kensington were available to be utilised,'' ICC spokesman Bryan Murgatroyd told Reuters.

''Zimbabwe trained on the ground at Sabina during the afternoon and the venue looks absolutely fantastic. It's a world-class stadium.'' Tuesday's Group D match will kick off seven weeks of action between 16 teams culminating with the final at Kensington Oval, Barbados on April 28.

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