da bet nacional： Vincentians appear to be disillusioned with the recent performances ofthe beleaguered West Indies team
Haydn Gill16-May-2001Vincentians appear to be disillusioned with the recent performances ofthe beleaguered West Indies team.And a lot of them might stay away from the Arnos Vale Playing Fieldeven though a public holiday has been declared for today’s final matchof the Cable & Wireless One-Day International series between WestIndies and South Africa.The locals seem to be turned off by the lacklustre showing of the WestIndies in what has been a vastly one-sided series since the openingmatch which Carl Hooper’s men won off the final ball.Depressing results have followed, from St John’s to St George’s toBridgetown to Port-of-Spain. West Indies were not even competitive ina string of five successive defeats.The picturesque ground here, sandwiched between the ET Joshua Airportand the Caribbean Sea, can accommodate about 10 000 spectators when itis jam-packed,but by yesterday afternoon, less than half of thatnumber of tickets had been sold.West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) marketing manager for events,promotions and information technology Darren Millien, reported thataround 4 700 tickets were pre-sold.We would have hoped to have been almost sold out, as it was last year,but given the state of the series and the on-field performances, wecan just hope that people will still come out and support the team,Millien said.This is the time when we need support, not for people to jump off thebandwagon. At the end of the day, we hope that we will have a sell-outcrowd.There was very little activity at the ticket office here yesterday andat no stage during the day were there the lengthy queues that had beencommonplace in recent years.Millien is certain that things would have been reversed if the SouthAfricans were not dominating the West Indies in the manner they havedone.If it were the other way around, I can guarantee you that we wouldhave been sold out by now, he said.Last year, the day before the game, we had pre-sold about 95 per centof the ground.Not only Vincentians are disenchanted by the West Indies’ display.A regional airline, which up until two weeks ago, reported that itsearly morning flight yesterday from Barbados into St. Vincent wasfully booked, left the Grantley Adams International Airport with 15empty seats.”We recognise that on-field performance would have an impact, butthere are other variables that would probably have been factored intoto get the kind of results that we did at the gates, Millien said.Even with modest ticket sales for this match, the marketing executivesaid there was no consideration to reduce admission prices.It has not been brought to our attention yet by the local board. If itwere to come to us, we would consider it, but at this juncture I don’tknow if it’s a feasible option, Millien added.What happens on the field is merely for the records, but surely theWest Indies would not want a carbon-copy of their 1999 series in SouthAfrica when they lost the One-Day International series by the hugemargin of 6-1.Despite defeat after defeat, West Indies captain Carl Hooper believeshis side should be sufficiently motivated to give a good account.We’ve still got to try. If we can finish on a winning note, it wouldbe good for us, Hooper said.It’s still a One-Day international. That should be motivation enough.If there are any guys in the team lacking motivation, there are heapsof guys outside that would give an arm and a leg to play.Hooper would also have told his players that the West Indies enjoy aproud record at the Arnos Vale Playing Field. In their 10 previousencounters on the ground, they have lost only once.South Africa will be eager to return home after what for them was alonger tour than normal.But they have unfinished business.We just want to make sure that we focus for the game and that ourminds are not yet on the plane, said captain Shaun Pollock.If we do that, the rest of it should all fall into place.It’s been a long tour, but the guys are looking to end off the tour ona winning note. We’re looking to come out here and put in one morequality performance before we go home.The visitors have a few injury concerns. Pollock has two stitchesbetween his left thumb and index finger, fast bowler Andre Nel iscarrying a hamstring injury he sustained on debut on Saturday andbatsman Boeta Dippenaar is also doubtful.