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Kensington Oval, whose status as the mecca of West Indies' cricket is increasingly threatened, is likely to host two Test matches this season for the first time in the ground's long history.

And Grenada's modern Queen's Park Stadium, now into its fourth year of existence, is on the cards to stage its first Test match.

SUNSPORT investigations revealed that a draft itinerary for the series between West Indies and New Zealand lists Bridgetown and St George's as venues for the two Tests. The itinerary, proposed by the West Indies Cricket Board, however, is yet to be ratified.

According to sources, New Zealand Cricket are not in favour of starting the tour with the series of five One-Day Internationals ahead of the two Tests.

Ongoing negotiations between the boards have led to a delay in the release of the itinerary. But, come what may, Barbados and Grenada are still favoured venues for the Tests.

The draft itinerary proposes that the first Test be played at Kensington from June 20 to 24 and the second at the Queen's Park Stadium from June 28 to July 2. The series follows the five-match rubber against India in which Barbados has already been confirmed to stage the third Test from May 2 to 6.

It is a tremendous achievement for a ground which has never hosted two Test matches in any season since the first of its 37 Tests in 1930.

Since the Test debut of the Antigua Recreation Ground in 1981 and St Vincent's Arnos Vale Playing Field in 1997, it has been uncommon for any regional ground to hold two Tests in the same year.

The last such instance was in 1998 when the Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad was belatedly asked to slot in another Test following the abandonment two week earlier of the Sabina Park Test because of a dangerous pitch.

Queen's Park Oval had always been the preferred choice to hold two Tests in a year, but it is believed that it missed out this season because of the rainy weather that usually hits Trinidad in June.

Sources said Kensington was favoured because of high Test-match attendances during the last ten years and the strength of the Barbados dollar.

© The Barbados Nation