Domestic schedule under attack

The domestic season may be less than a fortnight old, but some of the players and officials are already unhappy with the schedule, with accusations that the Red Stripe Bowl is dragging on too long.

The centre of the unease is Barbados, where Tony Martin, their manager, has blamed the organisers for a punishing fixture-list which means that his side have to spend almost three weeks constantly travelling and playing matches. "This year has been the same as years before and the administrators should look at a rethink," Howard told the Nation newspaper. "If we had two grounds here we could have completed the preliminaries in a week, and then have the semis and final the following week. In that way the tournament would be over in two weeks."

And Howard is also critical of the competition rules which allow for no rain day in the semi-finals and final. "There should be reserve days allocated," he explained. "It makes no sense spending days waiting around then to have your semi-final rained out and you're on your way home."