West Indies' Shivnarine Chanderpaul hits out against Somerset during the County Championship tour cricket match at the County Ground, Taunton, England, on Saturday. - AP PHOTO TAUNTON, England (CMC):
Rain robbed West Indies of vital preparation ahead of the first Test at Lord's, later this week when it ruined the third and final day of the tour match against Somerset yesterday.
The match, the only one before the start of the Test series, was finally called off just before 1:00 p.m. as heavy rain, which has been around for almost a week now, left the outfield saturated.
Umpires Roy Palmer and Stephen Garratt inspected the playing area at 12.45 p.m. and ruled that conditions were unfit for play, especially with the bowlers' run-ups wet and dangerous to use.
Only one day's play was possible in the match at the County Cricket Ground, with the visitors reaching 237 for four on the opening day on Saturday. Only 48.4 overs were possible as rain caused several interruptions after West Indies won the toss and chose to bat.
The wash-out of the last two days leaves theWest Indies in a precarious situation ahead of the first Test of the four-match rubber, especially with their practice sessions before this game also ruined by rain.
It means the team will enter the Lord's Test on Thursday short of vital match practice against an England squad whose players have been engaged in four-day matches for their respective county clubs.
The visitors' practice sessions have been reduced to the indoor facilities but were hardly ideal for the challenging nature of the upcoming Test series.
"It's not ideal to do all the work indoors but I think our guys are capable enough," experienced seam bowler Corey Collymore said yesterday.
"Most of the bowlers would have played Test matches before and they would know what their job is, so they should be ready."
In the limited time available Saturday, batsman Runako Morton capitalised to score 103 while experienced left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul stroked an unbeaten on 82.
West Indies took the long four-hour drive from the South West to London yesterday, arriving late in the evening.
