Rain or shine, the games will go on

April showers might as well conjure romantic images of springtime, so long as you're not playing cricket. But, when you're faced with the prospect of losing a series on account of washed-out matches, you could be forgiven for cursing the clouds that hung like heavy magnets over England's tour of the sunny West Indies these past few weeks.

It was as if the arrival of the teams was the magical rite that ended long, languid days of shimmering heat and dusty grass. This time around, the stumps couldn't even tiptoe onto the pitch without a solid downpour preceding them.

To the consternation of the thousands of fans gathered in the Caribbean hoping to soak in some brochure-style sun and cricket, the Tests and the one-day internationals have all been affected to some degree by the unseasonable rain. Three one-dayers in a row were complete washouts (apart from the 16 overs that were possible at the start of the first one in Port-of-Spain), and it seemed the series would be decided on that first 30-overs-a-side bash in Guyana, which had left England 1-0 up in the series.

The West Indies Cricket Board has had to refund a cool couple of million dollars to its fans, and everywhere the question has been, how this will affect the 2007 World Cup?

But to general amazement, the sun came out in St Lucia for the fifth and sixth matches. Two glorious days of brilliant sunshine and energetic breezes at the Beausejour Stadium provided just the backdrop for a series-turning pair of victories for West Indies. Hearts that had been clattering over the rains that had already invaded St Lucia, even as the Grenada match was being abandoned, were set at ease the day before the match. Maybe it was a Creole invocation that lifted the sun, maybe it was the fates granting a special birthday wish to Captain Lara. But the blistering heat of St Lucia serves especially to remind us that the Caribbean in April and May is meant to be a hot, dry place.

The wet season and the dry season, that's how it is divided in these parts. The wet starts around June, and ends with the year. The dry season takes the rest. So, what caused this unseasonable turn of events? It's a leap year, say the farmers. Leap years are notorious for turning everything around. It may not be very scientific, but you can't beat farmers for knowing weather patterns.

At least 2007 will not be a leap year, but CWC WI 2007 Inc., the company formed to organise the World Cup, is not taking any chances. One of the requirements for countries bidding to host matches is an analysis of their weather patterns over similar periods of time as the scheduled playing dates.

Of course, it doesn't help matters when inebriated spectators take their frolics onto the field and cause further damage to the pitches, as happened at the Queen's Park Oval, but perhaps that was a good lesson for the future for the groundstaff and security people.

Rather than sitting back and waiting to make hay, the region is now on guard for the vagaries of the globally changing weather patterns. This episode of unexpected showers has not dampened plans for the World Cup. Instead it has added one more area of vigilance to the planners: and when the time comes, rain or shine, the games will go on.