Captains: Pitches up to scratch

Both captains have given pass marks to the pitches in the five Tests of the recent Cable & Wireless Series.

West Indies captain Carl Hooper, saying he "couldn't afford to be biased", was satisfied that the pitches were good at all five grounds. South African skipper Shaun Pollock agreed and picked out Sabina Park for special mention.

"If I had to pick one of the five, I'd probably say this one," he said of the Sabina pitch for the fifth and final Test where South Africa lost their only match of the series.

"I thought it played nicely and was pretty similar to what we have at home. It had a bit more bounce and carry [than the others] and was a good Test pitch."

Hooper quipped that, since Sabina had given him his first Test win as captain, he should identify it as the best, but his assessment was that "they've all been good tracks, at all the venues".

He used the pitch at the Queen's Park Oval as an example of what he thought was a general improvement.

"In Trinidad, the pitch normally plays much lower than it did but, this time, the bounce was more even and it held up fairly well," he said.

Chief executive of the West Indies Cricket Board, Gregory Shillingford, announced before the series that cash incentives of "a combined amount of between US$8 000 and $15 000" would be awarded to ground staff for the best pitch and grounds for both Test and One-Day International series.

Shillingford said the judges would be the two captains and ICC match referee Mike Denness, the former England manager, who fill out forms assessing the pitches and grounds after every match.

He gave the assurance that the scheme would be continued and possibly even extended to the domestic Busta Cup and Red Stripe Bowl.