Rain blanks out West Indies/Ireland ODI

Ireland’s one-day international against West Indies at Stormont was abandoned after a rain shower at lunchtime ended any hope of the game getting underway. The scheduled start was 10:15 BST but Tuesday’s heavy rain meant the prospect of any play looked slim, despite morning sun in Belfast on Wednesday.

A number of pitch inspections took place before the abandonment was announced at 13:30 after yet more rain. West Indies face England in a Twenty20 game at Chester-le-Street on Saturday.

That will be followed by a five-match one-day series which starts with Tuesday’s contest at Old Trafford. Chris Gayle was set to feature at Stormont after both he and Marlon Samuels returned to the West Indies squad for the one-day games.

The duo had been absent from the squad following disagreements with the West Indies Cricket Board over their non-availability for domestic games.

Wednesday’s match was to be Ireland’s first against a Test-playing nation since they were granted full member status by the International Cricket Council in June.

Ireland captain William Porterfield spoke of his “frustration” at the abandonment but acknowledged that he had been fearing the worst after surveying the ground on Tuesday.

“We could seen the conditions were pretty heavy and we knew there was more raining coming,” said Porterfield, whose side will be next in action against Scotland in the Intercontinental Cup at the end of November.

“The surface was greasy and it would have been difficult to get out there. “It’s very disappointing because the last ODI we had was back in May and the lads were really raring to go today.”

West Indies captain Jason Holder said that he was also “disappointed” to miss out on match practice for the upcoming white-ball games against England.

“We have some guys coming back after a little while out but unfortunately the weather didn’t allow us to get out on the pitch today,” added the West Indies skipper.

“We just have to go to Durham now and look to get some solid days of practice together.” (BBC Sport)