WICB to refund $3M to fans

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is refunding almost US$500,000 to cricket fans after rain washed out both Cable and Wireless One-Day International (ODI) matches against England at Queen’s Park Oval this past weekend. Saturday’s second ODI was abandoned after only 16 overs, and no play was possible for Sunday’s scheduled third ODI. “For the second One-Day International (Saturday April 24) there will be a 50 percent refund while for the third ODI (Sunday April 25) there will be a full refund,” the WICB stated in a release.

WICB marketing chief Darren Millien told reporters over the weekend that the WICB could pay out as much as US$175,000 for Saturday’s aborted match, and over US $300,000 for Sunday’s complete washout. Refunds will be issued from Tuesday until May 10, the WICB said.  In the meantime, the cancellation of the weekend’s matches hinders the West Indies’ bid to recover in the series, after their two-wicket loss in the opening match a week earlier in Guyana. But West Indies captain Brian Lara is hopeful that good weather for the remaining matches will help facilitate their efforts to win the series. 

“We’ve got to look at it very optimistically. It’s a four-match series now, we are one-nil down, so there is ample opportunity to get back in the series and win it,” Lara said. “What we must do is tighten up our game... Hopefully, there will be cricket in Grenada, St Lucia and Barbados, good weather. We’ve just got to look forward and try to win the rest of the games,” he added. The fourth ODI in the seven-match series is slated for Grenada tomorrow. (CMC)