TT bid for 2007 W/Cup opener

Trinidad and Tobago is heavily favoured to be the venue for the opening ceremony and opening match of the 2007 ICC World Cup Cricket tournament. This according to a source close to the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), who also said that the final will most likely be played at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. “Trinidad and Tobago will make a serious bid to stage these two events, leaving the finals for Barbados where the government has approved substantial funds for improvement of the Kensington Oval,” the source stated. “A huge number of fans are expected to converge on the venue for the final and the Barbadians are going to put up a structure that will take in 50,000 fans. With the country already possessing the required infrastructure for large number of tourists, they are in the front of the line as far as that is concerned,” he said. The West Indies will host the 2007 World Cup and so far Chris Dehring, the head of the organising committee, has said that the region is two years behind on planning.

The traditional venues like Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain; Bourda in Guyana; Kensington Oval; Sabina Park in Jamaica; and the Antigua Recreation Ground all need to put in tremendous work in order to get the big matches. The Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad remains the most beautiful in the Caribbean but it is privately owned. Now with the regional governments getting involved and pumping money into upgrading their facilities, Queen’s Park will be hardpressed to compete. Barbados thrive on tourism and the government are seeing it as a tremendous investment with the eyes of the world locked in for the great event. The new Kensington Oval is expected to be a magnificent facility,” the source said. “The Trinidadians are expected to make a bid to host the opening ceremony at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo. They will also be making a serious case for the opening match to be played at the Queen’s Park Oval. Once TT is granted the opening ceremony, then they will automatically get the first match  because it’s in a package,” the source said.