The second day's play in the second Test between England and the West Indies was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to torrential rain on Friday. England ended the first day on 302 for two with Alastair Cook on 126 not out and nightwatchman James Anderson on four. Rain is also forecast to disrupt the match over the weekend. England leads the two-Test series 1-0. England cricket chiefs on Friday also defended their decision to play the West Indies in early May despite the series being greeted with a resounding thumbs-down from fans. This month's campaign against the West Indies saw the earliest start to an English Test season in history and the crowd for the series opener at Lord's, which England won by 10 wickets inside three days, was not what you would expect at the ‘home of cricket'. Then the whole of Friday's second day was washed out. That abandonment came just 48 hours after West Indies captain Chris Gayle had caused controversy by stating his preference for lucrative Twenty20 events such as the Indian Premier League over Test cricket. But David Collier, the ECB chief executive, said the reason why England was playing the West Indies now, ahead of a year which also includes the World Twenty20, a one-day series against Australia, the Champions Trophy and a tour of South Africa, was to prepare for the home Ashes series which starts in July. “I think that it would have been wrong not to have Test matches, prior to us playing in an Ashes series,” said Collier. England wants to stage Pakistan ‘home' Tests England, meanwhile, wants to become a ‘home away from home' for Pakistan cricket now that the Asian nation has been declared a no-go zone on security grounds. David Collier, the chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), confirmed here on Friday that talks were taking place regarding Pakistan playing a four-Test series in England next year followed by a two-Test series on English soil against Australia. Pakistan recently played Australia in a one-day series in Dubai but England is home to a large number of cricket fans of Pakistani descent. England players have often said that playing Pakistan at Old Trafford in Manchester or at Birmingham's Edgbaston ground has felt like an ‘away' match. “We all recognize that Pakistan are having an issue at the moment, in terms of being able to stage home matches,” said Collier. “If we can get this sort of (neutral) event, that does help them.”
