Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago will clash in the first day-night game in a Regional First-Class Championship when they meet at the venue in the second round of the tournament starting tomorrow.
“We will use this (match) as a comeback which will see our stadium in full action,” junior Sports Minister Winston Williams said.
He was supported by Tourism Minister John Maginley, who said he was pleased to see cricket is returning to the stadium.
“I think it is an important day today (Tuesday) that Antigua is back in the news making history [for the right reasons],” said Maginley, who was the government minister overseeing Cricket World Cup 2007.
Gregory Shillingford, president of the Leeward Islands Cricket Association and Hyram Forde, the treasurer of the Antigua and Barbuda Cricket Association, were both thrilled by the venue’s return to prominence.
“It is a statement saying that the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium … we are ready,” Shillingford said, noting that five Leewards Island senior tournament matches were played there in July while another five games were contested there during the sub-regional Under 15 tournament last month.
Forde added: “It has been a long time since the Antigua Cricket Association is hosting a cricket game and we are enthused by this opportunity.”
The ground, named after the legendary West Indies batsman and captain, made headlines last February when the second Test between West Indies and England had to be abandoned after just 10 balls because of an impaired outfield.
Cricket’s governing body, the International Cricket Council, subsequently imposed a one-year ban on the venue from hosting international games.
