ECB Mistreatment of W.I Continues

The mistreatment of the touring West Indies team at the hands of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has not stopped and former player Derek Pringle believes it could backfire badly for the home side.

Describing the ECB's actions as "tactless", Pringle said the ECB's decision to give Brian Lara's side just four days-worth of tickets for the Lord's Test, rather than the customary five, has raised enough hackles to be a motivating factor in the crucial opening Test.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Pringle said the ECB's mistreatment included problems with practice times that have "wound up" captain Brian Lara and other players over the past few days.

West Indies manager Tony Howard said of the latest round of mistreatment: "I don't know what they are trying to tell us, but it looks like they are expecting things to end early. Hopefully, it will be us who bring about that early finish."

The latest slight over ticket allocation comes on the heels of the mistreatment meted out to the visitors on arrival in England. For starters, no one from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) was on hand to receive the team at the airport.

Players were forced to individually clear immigration and customs, before securing and transporting all their own luggage. Making matters worse, there was no transportation available to take the West Indians to the team hotel. Things got so bad that the players were forced to wait on the roadside close to the parking lot for more than an hour until a coach arrived, according to information reaching CaribbeanCricket.com.

More than a week into the tour, no one from the ECB or a county club had formally welcomed the team. On June 21, the day of the warm-up game against Kent, the West Indies team bus was forced to sluggishly make its way through horrendous traffic without a police escort. An accident caused part of the designated route to be blocked off but there was no escort available to get the team to the venue on time.

Upon arrival at Beckenham, the West Indies barely had enough time for a 10-minute warm-up before the match, which was eventually reduced to 48 overs per side.

The mistreatment is in sharp contrast to the way the WICB lays out the red carpet for teams visiting the Caribbean. When visitors arrive in the Caribbean, liaisons are on hand at the airport to take care of all customs and immigration duties, players wait in the VIP lounge, buses are ready and waiting and police escorts are provided.