EVERY CLOUD HAS a silver lining, so dem seh, but the WICB (Woefully Inadequate Cricket Body) can only sit by and watch the shiny stuff rush down the flooded drains Trinidad, Grenada and more than likely St. Lucia this weekend.
The seven-match, one-day series between hosts the West Indies and the touring Poms has turned out to be a sodden mess which is going to cost the WICB big time.
The first match, in a place where the sun obviously don't shine (don't be rude) at this time of year, was in Guyana and guess what? It rained.
The match was eventually reduced to 30 overs per side which was thoroughly entertaining but not exactly cricket with the team batting second (England) always having the upperhand in an abbreviated form of an already abbreviated game.
Then, hi, ho, hi, ho, it's off to Trinidad we go, we have eleven men with pails in hand, hi, ho, hi, ho.
Yep, it bucketed down there and two games, no play and the WICB finds itself having to come up with US$350,000 in refunds. Still the Trini Posse danced up a storm.
Then the sides floated off to nearby Grenada and, guess wha' 'appened?
There was substantial drizzle there as well, no play, plenty refunds - yippee.
I don't need to say what the weather is like in St. Lucia at the moment as the sides board rafts and float over there.
Let me just say that Noah needs that wood when they arrive for Ark II.
The one-day series is a disaster on all fronts and the scary thing is that our great World Cup 2007 venture could be held about this time of year.
Chris Dehring and his canny band of WIWC2007 organisers have enough to worry about with lead-footed bid proposals that waver between real and surreal but they should also cast an eye towards the heavens - and not just to pray.
Here in Jamaica we should do the same. While it buckets down in the east Caribbean, we are as dry as the proverbial baby's bottom.
Maybe that could be our major selling point to host some of the major World Cup games. Lord knows we need some hook.
See, for some, clouds really do have silver lining.
Later ...
