KEY POINTS:
GEORGETOWN, Guyana - World Cup organisers have finally allowed disillusioned Caribbean cricket lovers to take musical instruments into grounds but the decision may have come too late to get the turnstiles clicking.
Soulless, sterile venues -- a lamentable contrast to the calypso and reggae vibe typically associated with cricket viewing in this part of the world -- will be an abiding memory of a tournament that was expected to celebrate the region's love of the game.
Instead the International Cricket Council (ICC) have imposed so many rules and regulations that their one-day cricket show piece has stripped of colour and vibrancy.
Rank and file West Indian fans repelled by being denied the right to express themselves through music scored a minor victory today when World Cup chief executive Chris Dehring announced that conch shells, horns, drums and trumpets could be taken into grounds from tomorrow.
The Super Eights clash between South Africa and Bangladesh here at Providence Stadium (Mon NZT) will herald the belated attempt to inject some life into the second phase of the tournament.
"Safety must be a paramount but we do want everyone to watch cricket in a festive and lively atmosphere," Dehring said.
And not before time. It has taken 25 days for organisers to relent on one of many regulations instrumental in alienating the fans they were relying on to create an authentic Caribbean cricketing experience.
But the cash-strapped locals still can't bring in their own food or obtain a pass out to temporarily leave the venues.
They still need to leave their vehicles -- if they own one -- in far-flung "park and ride" paddocks before paying for a taxi to ferry them to and from a drop-of point close to the entrance.
Ticket prices, often astronomical when compared to the average wage, are another reason why games have been played before sparsely populated stands.
Some local organising committees (LOC) have sought to artificially boost numbers by offering cut price deals and subsidised tickets to school children -- as St Lucia did when New Zealand played three group games there last month.
Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist urged the tournament organisers to go further by slashing tickets to bargain-basement prices for the matches leading up to the April 28 final in Barbados.
"You come here to experience that unique atmosphere that is Caribbean cricket.
"Whatever the (pricing) policy is at the moment, it doesn't seen to be working."
However, even if seats are made affordable it appears the ICC will never win back the hearts and minds of locals who have felt marginalised -- and victimised -- since the warm-up games in early March.
Ian Mohan, a volunteer in Trinidad and Tobago, encapsulated the mood by venting his frustrations to the Cricinfo website.
"The biggest impression in my mind was the curtailing of freedom in your own country," he wrote of his brief involvement.
"It was martial law in the confines of a cricket ground.
"At the ground water was $TT12 ($2.65) a bottle -- outside the fence it was $TT4.50. A beer was $TT18 a cup -- over at the cafe it was only $TT6.
"One spectator who arrived with his own water was told he could not enter the arena with his plastic bottle, especially with the cap on. He was taken from the ground by paramedics at 3pm suffering from dehydration, because he could not afford to purchase water at the inflated price.
"Thousands of real cricket fans stayed away -- they said they had self respect and pride and would not pay money to be treated this way," Mohan wrote.
"The ICC twisted the arms of small island states to institute draconian laws to facilitate the World Cup. Why? We have been holding ODIs for 30 years, and win, lose, or draw, the end was peaceful.
"The biggest terrorist in the Caribbean is rain, as it threatens any game.
"We were stripped of our water, food, and our true West Indian flavour that visitors come to the Caribbean to take part in."
- NZPA
