Date-stamped : 02 Nov94 - 10:26 India`s cricketing image takes a beating - Kuldip Lal India`s ambition to become the Mecca of cricket has taken a beating during the ongoing triangular one-day series, raising doubts about the success of the World Cup in 1996. Unruly crowds, a punishing itinerary, woeful ground facilities and incompetent umpiring have raised the hackles of not only New Zealand and the West Indies but the home side as well. The triangular -- widely viewed as a dress rehearsal for the World Cup just 15 months away -- has highlighted the problems itinerant cricket parties have toface in the subcontinent. West Indies captain Courtney Walsh escaped serious injury on Sunday when he was hit by a bottle near the boundary in the packed Green Park stadium in Kanpur. The match was held up for 15 minutes as Walsh went into the dressing room to show the flying object to team officials, even as International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee Raman Subba Row summoned security reinforcements. Walsh returned to the field when play resumed, no doubt thank- ing his stars for escaping injury on his 32nd birthday. He ex- pected manager David Holford to report the incident to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). "It is not a nice thing to happen to anybody," Walsh said. "Somebody had to take charge of the situation, otherwise these things can get out of hand so quickly. "That`s why I came off and returned to the ground only after the umpires assured me they had warned the organisers to take ac- tion," he said. Before the match began, 10,000 valid ticket-holders rioted outside the stadium for being denied entry after organisers shut the gates when they found the 35,000-capacity stadium overflow- ing. The Green Park is one of India`s oldest Test centres and is certain to hosta World Cup match. Another likely Cup venue, Ahmedabad, is also notorious for its unruly crowds. The BCCI`s decision to appoint different umpires for each match was ridiculedby Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin after all three teams suffered at the hands of inexperienced officials. Television replays have highlighted the glaring umpiring mis- takes. On one occasion, the third umpire in the pavilion sig- nalled a batsman run out even whenreplays clearly showed he had grounded his bat in time. Azharuddin was livid when umpire C.K. Sathe reprieved West In- dian opener PhilSimmons on Sunday after he was cleanly caught low down in the slips by Manoj Prabhakar. "It is not good to have new umpires at every match," he said. "It is not goodfor the im- age of the country. Someone should do something about it." Former maestro Sunil Gavaskar alleged BCCI officials were granting favours toumpires of different states with an eye on getting their votes. And New Zealand captain Ken Rutherford slammed the practice facilities in theeastern city of Guwahati, where they are to clash with the West Indies on Tuesday. With a match being played every alternate day in far-flung ve- nues, the long travel hours and waiting at airports are beginning to take their toll. The home team has been the worst hit in this respect, having had to play in the western city of Baroda on Friday and in Kan- pur, 864 kilometres (540 miles) away on Sunday. To get to Kanpur, the Indians had a three-hour bus ride to Ahmedabad where they boarded a flight for New Delhi, arriving around midnight. After a few hours` rest, the team took an early morning flight to Lucknow, where another two-hour bus ride took them to Kanpur less than 20 hours before the next match. "We may have hosted the World Cup in 1987, but the intervening seven years have not seen any improvement," one senior player la- mented. "We are herded from one centre to another and still ex- pected to give our best every time." Thanks :: Agence France Presse Contributed by Pavithran (pavitra@*.maths.monash.edu.au)