This file photo shows groundstaff putting in the final touches for the staging of the WI's Test match against England earlier this year. The venue was yesterday named by the ICC as Jamaica's only site for the ICC CWC 2007 and will undergo major changes for hosting such matches.
LONDON, CMC:
THE INTERNATIONAL Cricket Council yesterday announced Sabina Park as the only venue among two Jamaicans grounds that were submitted in the country's bid to host the ICC World Cup West Indies 2007.
The other venue that was proposed was the Greenfield site in Trelawny.
In total, eight countries were chosen to host the matches but in making the announcement at a press conference in London yesterday, West Indies Cricket Board President, Teddy Griffith confirmed "Sabina Park in Jamaica" as their selection.
The host venues are Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts/Nevis, St. Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago. Bermuda, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, and the United States were the three unsuccessful host venues.
FIRST ALTERNATIVE
But Bermuda has been awarded warm-up matches and the West Indies Cricket Board has recommended it as a first alternative venue to host matches in the event a match needs to be relocated for any reason.
ICC President Ehsan Mani and Griffith shared the duties of announcing the eight successful venues through an audio-visual presentation in the Denis Compton Suite at the Ramada Plaza Hotel in St. John's Wood adjacent to Lord's Cricket Ground.
Next Tuesday, the details of the specific matches to be played at the eight venues, including the opening ceremony and match, semi-finals and final, will be announced in a 'live' radio and television broadcast from Jamaica, where the headquarters of ICC CWC WI 2007 Inc. is located.
The ceremony will take place at the Ritz Carlton in Montego Bay.
The announcement of the host venues followed last weekend's presentation of the host venue recommendations from the ICC CWC 2007 Inc. board of directors to the committee of CEOs of the ICC.
"All the applications to host matches were highly impressive, but the organisation of staging 51 matches in the tournament works logistically and practically around a structure of eight main grounds," remarked Mani.
He added: "Understandably, this will create some disappointment among those venues not selected, but as we saw at the last ICC World Cup in South Africa, hosting the tournament is not simply about individual venues, but how the countries unite together to stage the event."
Griffith also stated that the quality of applications was outstanding, but added.
"We were highly impressed with the work done and the efforts made by the respective countries in support of their bids to host matches," said Griffith.
"The venue assessment team was established to ensure that the venues in the region were thoroughly prepared and the best available venues were selected to host matches in the ICC Cricket World Cup."
Chris Dehring, managing director of ICC CWC 2007 Inc., presented the recommendations in London and ICC members were asked to give their final approval at their meeting on the weekend in Monaco.
