As the Caribbean continues its preparations for the hosting next year of the International Cricket Council’s World Twenty20 cricket tournament the venue assessment team is set to travel around the region beginning today.
Hardly have the suspense and thrills of the recent ICC World Twenty20 tournament in England subsided than the Caribbean has begun preparing to host the next edition of this exciting event in less than a year from now.
According to the release plans for the staging of the ICC WT20 tournament in the West Indies next year will intensify over the coming week.
The release stated that an international contingent will undertake venue inspection of facilities in the host countries for the event, including stadia, warm-up and practice locations and hotels.
There will also be meetings with key stakeholders during the tour. The team – which will travel to Barbados, Guyana, St. Kitts & Nevis, and St. Lucia – includes representatives of the West Indies Cricket Board, the WT20 2010 project team, the International Cricket Council (ICC), the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) and ESPN STAR Sports. Among those slated to attend are ICC Events Manager, Chris Tetley; ICC Pitch Consultant Andy Atkinson; ICC Head of Anti-Corruption and Security Unit, Ravi Sawani, and FICA Chief Executive, Tim May. Venue inspections commence in Barbados today and move to Guyana tomorrow.
The team will spend two days in Guyana before heading to St. Kitts late next Wednesday.
They then fly to St. Lucia July 3 where part of the inspection takes place at Beausejour Cricket Ground during the One-Day International between the West Indies and India. The venue inspection tour concludes July 4.
“This is the first venue inspection for ICC WT20 West Indies 2010 and I believe the region is familiar with this process, particularly building on the experience of 2007. This time around, we don’t have the task of constructing new stadia and that’s a major plus. However, there are still several elements which have to be put in place to host an event of this magnitude and we need to assess what must be done in the four host nations,” said Tournament Director, Ernest Hilaire.
“Some overlay or temporary infrastructure will be necessary and there are matters such as pitch conditions, security and media requirements which we have to look at. We have less than a year before the cricketing world comes to the Caribbean again and we intend to pace ourselves well in planning and executing cricket’s newest showpiece.”
Hilaire and a project team have started preparations at their headquarters in St. Lucia and in satellite offices in the host nations. Many familiar faces have returned to work on the WT20 spectacle. Robert Bryan – former CEO of the Jamaica Local Organising Committee for ICC CWC 2007 – is Regional Events Manager for ICC WT20 WI 2010 while Deron Dixon, who worked in cricket operations, is back as Cricket Operations Manager, and Gayle Alleyne, the Media Officer for ICC CWC 2007 is now Corporate Communications Manager. The four country offices also have various staff members from the Cricket World Cup.
“I’m pleased with the team we have assembled to deliver the second international cricket tournament to be held in the Caribbean. We have an experienced and enthusiastic cadre of persons covering a number of key areas, such as event management, cricket operations, communications, ticketing and hospitality – and there will be other appointments as we move ahead,” said Hilaire.
“Various elements of our plan will be rolled out in the coming weeks and months. We are looking forward to working with all stakeholders to delivering an exceptional event of which the region can be proud.”
VENUE INSPECTION TEAM
Ernest Hilaire, tournament Director – ICC WT20 West Indies 2010,
Chris Tetley ICC Events Manager, Brian Murgatroyd, ICC Manager – Media & Communications Ravi Sawani, General Manager, ACSU, Vivienne Brown, ICC Host Liaison, Emma Waite, Commercial Account Manager,
Aarti Dabas, Media Rights & Broadcast Manager, Saeed Izadi; Kaushik Basu,
ESPN Star Sports, Andy Atkinson, ICC Pitch Consultant,
Tim May, CEO, FICA, Garith Styles, Sports Logistics, Tom Roche,
Project Director – Corporate Hospital-ity (WICB) President: Hon Dr. Julian R. Hunte, Vice President: Dave Cameron.