Lequay says: W/Cup 2007 opening ceremony for TT

Trinidad and Tobago hopes to be awarded seven matches plus the opening ceremony when the International Cricket Council announces host venues for the 2007 World Cup, the country’s top cricket official said yesterday. Alloy Lequay, CEO of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board, also said he expects the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and the Bahamas would be excluded from the list of eight hosts to be revealed by the ICC in a formal announcement in London on Monday. “It is my understanding ... Trinidad and Tobago will be guaranteed the opening ceremony, six group matches involving the West Indies and one semi-final,” Lequay said after speaking to  international cricket officials.

He didn’t identify the officials to whom he had spoken, and it wasn’t immediately possible to verify his claim. He said he understood Trinidad and Tobago also would “benefit by staging a series of warm-up matches in the weeks leading up to the tournament.” The final in the World Cup is expected to be played in either Jamaica or Barbados, two of the region’s traditional Test playing venues, Lequay said. The 51-match event is set for April and May 2007. The West Indies, who won the first two World Cups in England in 1975 and 1979, are hosting it for the first time. If  chosen, the United States also would be hosting World Cup matches  for the first time, in Miami. (AP)