Ground staff pull on the covers as rain stopped play at Guyana National Stadium in Providence, Guyana, 2021. Photo: AFP
Black Caps coach Gary Stead is keeping a close eye on the weather in the West Indies as they prepare for their opening game of the T20 World Cup.
The New Zealanders spent the first couple of days in Guyana seeking shelter because of the rain.
They open their tournament against Afghanistan on Saturday.
Stead admits it will unfortunate if the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern scoring system has to be employed during games or if there are complete washouts.
"It's definitely a concern. In pool play you want to play every match you can to give yourself the best chance of qualifying for the next stage," Stead said.
"We can't control the weather unfortunately and we are in conditions that can change very quickly."
While the first game in Georgetown was completed (West Indies beat Papua New Guinea by five wickets) there is rain forecast to fall there at some stage every day for the rest of the week.
Afghanistan play Uganda on Tuesday, Papua New Guinea play Uganda on Thursday before New Zealand play Afghanistan on Saturday.
Reserve days are scheduled for the semi-finals and final, but not for pool play or the Super Eight stage.
However, there will be the opportunity to extend the playing hours for each game.
"There could be up to 90 minutes' extra time if there is rain around and most of the rain here is torrential and passes reasonably quickly so still hopeful that we'll find some form of match that can be completed," Stead said.
While they missed a few days of training because of the weather they have been able to train at the stadium the last two days.
The last two players, Lockie Ferguson and Trent Boult, joined the team yesterday following their stints at the IPL.
Stead doesn't believe the staggered arrival of players is an issue.
"It's been the way of the world for a while now with the different leagues. It's getting that balance right between being ready to play for the first match and also trying to give guys some time at home to be with their family and reconnect with them.
"Some of these guys have been at the IPL for two and half months and that's taxing whether you're playing or not it can be a long time away from home."
