The 2008 West Indies one-day cricket tournament is unlikely to take place in Florida as originally planned.
The effects of hurricane related weather have severely hampered preparations at the purpose-built stadium in Broward County, where the matches were planned, West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) chief executive Dr Donald Peters said yesterday.
“The backup was to have it in the Caribbean and I’ve asked my staff to do just that in case it falls through,” he stated.
According to Peters, he and the promoters were “having problems” with the proposed dates in November that were undermined following heavy rains in the area associated with hurricanes Gustav and Hannah.
“They still want to do it and have given us alternative dates for next year but this is a problem,” Peters said. “This is the hurricane season and perhaps people weren’t thinking when they selected the dates initially.”
It is the first time any WICB-sanctioned event would have been staged outside the Caribbean.
The cricket culture is strong among the sizeable Caribbean expatriate communities in Florida. Broward County put forward an unsuccessful bid to host a group stage of last year’s ICC World Cup and were awarded the 2008 one-day tournament by the WICB after an American company came forward to replace Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) which did not renew its three-year sponsorship agreement.
Since the American sponsor is only interested in backing the tournament if held in Florida, Peters said the WICB was now trying to source an alternative.
Plans to include an official United States Cricket Association (USCA) team would also fall through should Broward County be eliminated.
Jamaica won the KFC Cup last year, defeating Trinidad & Tobago by 28 runs in the final under lights at the Three Ws Oval in Barbados.
