After many, many years of poor performances, West Indies cricket got a shot in the arm two Saturdays ago when the West Indies, riding on the backs of Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, and Brendan Nash, Jerome Taylor and Sulieman Benn, rose up at Sabina Park and won the first Test match by an innings and 23 runs after astonishingly blowing away England for 51 runs in the second innings.

Six days after that, however, on Friday in Antigua, the happiness, the celebration, turned to gloom, to despair, when the first day's play of the second Test was abandoned after 1.4 overs or 10 deliveries.

On January 29, 1998, the first Test between the West Indies and England at Sabina Park was abandoned after 56 minutes due to a pitch that was obviously too dangerous for the batsmen with England on 17 for three after 10.1 overs.

On Friday, the Test match was abandoned, first for the day and then forever, with England on seven without loss due to an outfield which was obviously too dangerous for the bowlers.

In 1998, the surface of the newly laid Sabina Park pitch was uneven. On this occasion, after the drainage of the outfield of the new stadium, which was built for the World Cup in 2007, was redone in late 2007, the top of the field was taken off last year, more sand was put in place in October, and that was the problem.

There was too much sand on the outfield at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, the under-foot condition was not firm enough for the bowlers, and after fast bowler Fidel Edwards failed to deliver the ball on three occasions, that was that.

Sandy pitch

Looking at the outfield, an outfield that looked more like a beach than a cricket field, the question was this: how could anyone, cricketer or not, whether he ever played the game or not and at whatever level, expect cricket, Test cricket at that, to be played on that outfield.

The answer is because it is cricket.

According to match umpire Alan Hurst, many, including the two captains, questioned the amount of sand on the outfield during the days leading up to the match, and although many believed that the match should not be played on it, it was the opinion of those in charge that the match could not be simply abandoned or relocated without it having started.

In other words, as was the case at Sabina Park in 1998, although sand is sand, remembering that regardless of how much it is rolled, sand will always be sand, as silly as that reasoning was, they, those with the power to rule that the match should not have started, needed proof that it was as bad as it looked - that it would react the way it did.

They got all the proof they wanted, and embarrassingly so.

Once again, the West Indies Board has embarrassed West Indies cricket, and with every one knowing that the Test was scheduled for Antigua months and months ago, once again there can be no excuse for it.

And there can be no excuse for it. Not only because the West Indies Board knew long before that it had planned a Test match to be played in Antigua, not only because it knew, or should have known, about the sand at the stadium, not only because not one single cricket match had been played there for the past year, but also and more so because not one first-class match had been played in Antigua over the last five years. The regional match between the Leeward Islands and Guyana, scheduled for the stadium towards the end of January, was relocated to St Kitts.

First-class match

May be the WICB did not know this, but according to officials of the Antigua and Barbuda Cricket Association, that match, and all those after 2004, could not have been played in Antigua because of venue and financial issues.

On the other hand, may be the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) knew all about Antigua's problem but decided that although they could not host a first-class match, they could host a Test match, that although the new stadium could not host a first-class match, it could host a Test match.

The 'Barmy Army' and the thousands of British fans in Antigua must be very disappointed after spending their hard-earned money to come to the West Indies to watch some cricket, and so too must be West Indians at home and abroad, and especially those in Britain and elsewhere around the world who probably are so embarrassed that they must be in hiding.

As a West Indian, I am embarrassed. In fact, I am so embarrassed that, as was the case, 11 years ago, a tear ran down my cheek, a lump came up in my throat on Friday morning.

I was not surprised, however, I am not surprised, and all because of what is happening in West Indies cricket.

Based on their attendance at school matches, club matches, territorial matches, and Test matches, including on Friday when the locals at the Stadium in Antigua were outnumbered many times over by the visitors, West Indians no longer love cricket; and more important, based on their lack of support for the clubs, based on the falling membership in the clubs, West Indians no longer love cricket.

Who should be blamed for this latest embarrassment of West Indies cricket?

At first thought, it should be the Antigua and Barbuda Cricket Association, it should be the Leeward Islands Cricket Association, and it should definitely be the WICB.

Apart from the fact that in the Caribbean where things such as checks and balances and follow-ups are non-existent, where no one takes responsibility for any thing, where, a few days after the biggest blunder, everything is back to normal and anything goes, a game, however, is as strong as those who support it, and until things change, those who support cricket are, most times, members of clubs.

Membership quality

From the clubs come the leaders of West Indies cricket who are voted into office by members of the clubs - by those who support the game day in and day out.

On second thought, therefore, those who should be blamed for this latest debacle are those who claim they love the game, but who have walked away from it by walking away from the clubs - those who now only cheer, as they did two Saturdays ago, whenever their team wins.

One day, some day, things may change. Until then, however, what happened at Sabina Park in 1998, what happened at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Friday is everyone's fault.

With the West Indies board members coming from the territorial board members, with the territorial board members coming from the clubs, the weaker the clubs become, in quantity but more so in quality of membership, the weaker will West Indies cricket be.

Out of quality comes quality. Out of nothing comes nothing. It is as simple as that.

The Test match has been abandoned, another Test match will start a few miles away today at the old Antigua Recreation Ground, and apart from the fact that history will record that while one Test match, scheduled for February 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, was abandoned another was played at the Antigua Recreational Ground (ARG) on February 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19, it will be interesting to see how long this Test match lasts.

Embarrassing

The ARG, the pitch on which Brian Lara scored 375 and 400 not out, where Chris Gayle scored 317, the West Indies scored 751 for five declared, Viv Richards smashed a century off 56 deliveries, and the pitch on which the eight batsmen scored centuries while South Africa were knocking up 588, the West Indies 747, and South Africa 127 for one, is known for huge scores and drawn matches.

It should be remembered, however, that the ARG is now the home of football, among other things, and most important, that the last Test match played there was three years ago in 2006 and that the last first-class match played there was five years ago in 2004.

This Test match could be very interesting if not, once again, embarrassing.