Windies considered to walk-off on a rainy day during T20I against England

Windies had considered to walk-off from the one-off T20 International against risking career-threatening injuries on a rainy day against England. The match was hindered frequently due to the intermittent rain showers which made the outfield wet significantly. The match was eventually completed as the World T20 champions trumped the home side by 21 runs.

None of the West Indies players at Chester-le-Street on Saturday had been involved in their side’s recent 2-1 three-Test series defeat in England. All the players were involved in the recently concluded Caribbean Premier League and landed in the country only a few days before the game. The match was threatened to be washed out on a cold soggy day but it was played in full-spirit in the end.

Ultimatum from Windies to the umpires

Things got became serious when the wicketkeeper Chadwick Walton changed direction to field a deflected ball, slipped and jarred his knee on an already wet outfield. Carlos Brathwaite talked about his injury in the post-match press conference.

“I had a chat with a few of the boys in a huddle while Chadwick was getting treatment and most of them said it was unsafe. “I told the umpires the boys had some concerns — it could be a career-threatening injury,” he said.

Brathwaite also mentioned that they gave an ultimatum to the umpires and thought of abandoning the game in case the wet outfield doesn’t dry out. “We kind of gave it an ultimatum… we got the outfield roped and we were in agreement that if it continued to be unsafe or if anything dramatic or drastic happened we’d call it quits. But cricket was the winner,” he added.

Apart from that threat, Brathwaite was happy on the performance of his team. He himself starred with the ball and returned with the figures 3/20. “We knew we had to stick in it. The way we finished the game was really fantastic,” concluded the Windies skipper.