The rain isn't the only thing getting in the way of the smooth running of the tournament. Photo / Reuters
Monique Devereux, former chief reporter at the Herald and now Christchurch correspondent for Radio New Zealand, is at the Cricket World Cup. She brings nzherald.co.nz regular news and views from the West Indies
One can live in hope - then one drives outside the airport complex and realises that life in Antigua is just the same as everywhere else in the Caribbean.
It took almost an hour to check into the hotel because the receptionist lost the relevant forms.
As I
write this there are 15 photographers demanding to know why the internet and power cables they had pre-paid for at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket ground, do not work. And the Australia vs West Indies game is 30 minutes from kick-off.
A crisis seems to have been averted in Guyana, where the Black Caps head to next, but only just.
Two days ago a media advisory went out saying all of the games scheduled on Guyana might be moved to Trinidad if the little problem with a total lack of power or internet at the grounds could not be fixed.
Today we heard power is on, but fluctuates.
So the games will all go ahead. There may just not be a scoreboard and the electronic turnstiles won't let anyone in to see it anyway.
The roads here in Antigua are appalling and today the island is effectively shut because of the cricket game. A last minute Government decision.
Beside me here in the media centre, cables are being laid along the desks. Hopefully internet cables because what has become an important tool for any media nowadays to send their work to their respective news organisations barely functions properly anywhere.
Certainly not in the hotels the numerous international media are staying at.
Add that to the one lane of traffic and the endless detours around potholes the size of small houses and you get car loads of frustrated journalists and photographers, who are unable to do their jobs easily.
I'm not the only one complaining. The cries of indignation can be heard in all dialects and accents.
The excuse that this is just the Caribbean way, "Island time, just chill out" no longer washes with me, or anyone else who has come here to work.
World Cup host countries are appointed almost 9 years in advance. It's no excuse not to be ready or to even have the basic facilities in working order.
India and Pakistan share the next World Cup. Now they've both gone home they will have plenty of time to start planning the event properly. Let's hope they use it wisely.
