Aussie cricket boss refutes World Cup hijack story

BRIDGETOWN: West Indies cricket officials are confident that they can host the 2007 World Cup, brushing aside concerns that the region won’t be ready to stage the tournament.

Two cricket officials denied a story that appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday that Australia is still in the  running to host the tournament because the Caribbean’s cricketing infrastructure may not be ready in time. The story, which also appeared in the Melbourne-based Age newspaper, cited unnamed members of the Cricket New South Wales’ board. The chairman of Cricket Australia, the sport’s governing body in the country, denied the report in yesterday’s Daily Nation newspaper in Barbados. “I’m blown out of the water by that (report) and I deny all of that,” said Bob Merriman, who is in Barbados for meetings of the International Cricket Council to discuss the World Cup. “Cricket Australia (has) contractual arrangements in place that would preclude it having the 2007 World Cup in any case,” he said. “We certainly have no qualms about the relationship we have with the West Indies. In fact, it’s completely the opposite to what that report says.”

Chris Dehring, managing director of the West Indies Cricket Board’s organising committee, also rejected the report, calling it “erroneous.” “Far from concerns, the ICC has been expressing quite a great deal of confidence in the ability of the WICB and the Caribbean to host the CWC 2007,” Dehring said. “We have been working closely with the management of the ICC to put in place everything that is required” and they have been impressed, he added. The newspaper report in Australia claimed that the country has been informally discussed as the backup option to host the event. Merriman denied the newspapers’ claim that he had told state administrators in Australia that fears about the West Indies’ ability to host the tournament have reached significant levels within the ICC.

The West Indies, who won the first two World Cups in England in 1975 and 1979, would be hosting the tournament for the first time. It would become the last of the ICC’s ten full members to stage it. Australia hosted it once in 1992. The host agreement between the WICB and ICC is likely to be signed in Jamaica early next week, officials said. Caribbean countries can begin applying in November to host the tournament’s matches and have until January 31 to submit applications. Cricket officials have contracted private companies to assess venues and help get them up to international standards in time. WICB President Teddy Griffith acknowledged yesterday that the board “is fully aware of the significant challenges they face in hosting” the event. “We are confident that as a nation we have the capacity to deliver on our obligations,” Griffith said. “We expect the fullest support and cooperation from all our fellow members of the ICC as we undertake our tasks.” In February 2002, then-WICB president Pat Rosseau said Grenada was the only Caribbean country capable of hosting World Cup matches. Rousseau warned then that the islands could lose the chance to host the tournament if they do not improve facilities and infrastructure.