Beryl leaves CWI under-19 competitions in limbo

HURRICANE BERYL has left one sports victim, preventing the possibility of yesterday’s start to the West Indies Rising Stars Under-19 men’s and women’s competitions in Trinidad and Tobago and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Organisers were forced to shelf plans, especially in the wake of restricted air travel.

“We don’t know what is the situation with flights coming out of the different islands after Beryl. So it [the tournament] is on hold until everything returns to normalcy,” Azim Basarath, Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board president, and vice-president of Cricket West Indies, told T&T Newsday.

On Sunday, Trinidad and Tobago were not able to travel to St Vincent because the two-leg trip through Barbados was cancelled.

“We are waiting on the cricket board to say when is that rescheduled flight,” said Trinidad and Tobago manager, Kerwin John.

But there may also be further delays if there is damage to infrastructure.

According to the National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO) in St Vincent and the Grenadines on Monday, a day before the scheduled start, there was significant damage.

“We have begun to receive heartbreaking reports out of the Union Island and the southern Grenadines, even as our agencies desperately attempt to re-establish communications with certain sections and ascertain the extent of the damage to the mainland,” said St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves.

The two competitions are supposed to have six teams in the various competitions.

The men’s competitions are to include a three-day tournament featuring the six teams and a 50-over one.