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Covering of pitches for local cricket is impractical because of high costs, say two long-standing administrators.

As rain washed out play in each of the seven Courts/Suzuki Division 1 matches yesterday, Philip Nicholls and Owen Estwick agreed that clubs and the local association would have difficulty in financing the adequate utilisation of covers.

The Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) announced last September that covers would have been introduced for the 1999 season.

But those plans have since been put on hold.

``Even if the BCA had capitalised on that, the recurrent cost of security, storage and additional ground staff for the purpose of effective and efficient covering would pose additional strain on the purses of the clubs,'' Estwick said on Voice of Barbados' Sports Everywhere programme.

``I believe that the decision not to cover has more to do with costs than to do with the wisdom of ensuring that pitches are better prepared.''

Nicholls, a former BCA board member and chairman of its covers committee, said he was surprised to hear last year that covers were going to be introduced.

``Finances have proven that it is not an economic feasibility at this stage,'' he said.

``If we can get the covers we can roll on - and one person can push on - that's fine. But not until those are available.''

Nicholls also believes that efforts should be made to get covers introduced gradually into the Barbados Fire & Commercial limited-overs competitions, which, at the moment, only use them from the semifinal stage.

``Even before we get to covering, we need to improve on the skills of groundsmen,'' said Estwick, a BCA board member and president of the Barbados Cricket League.

``We need to avail ourselves of that last dying breed of very good groundsmen who are on the wrong side of 50.

``If that expertise dies, I'm afraid that our cricket will go from mediocre to worse.''