2007 W/Cup prep better than S/Africa’s

Donald Lockerbie venue development director and chief operating officer of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, said the ICC had "repeatedly told us we’re ahead of where South Africa was at the same time for the 2003 Cricket World Cup."

"One of the main reasons this is so is because the ICC have been part of our planning from the beginning and we have forged a great partnership with them," Lockerbie, who met with local organising committees and other officials in St Lucia and Barbados earlier this week, said.

He also credited the Cricket World Cup organisation for developing the framework for a comprehensive plan which has been endorsed by tournament owners — the ICC — and which is now being systematically implemented across the region.

Nigel Rushman, the Cricket World Cup’s event director, echoed similar sentiments regarding the progress being made in planning the World Cup event.

"This is my third Cricket World Cup and we’re more advanced in planning than either of the previous two in which I was involved at the same stage," he disclosed.

"This is far more complicated because we’re operating across nine countries but nonetheless the progress which stakeholders have made is well advanced in comparison."

He added: "Enthusiasm is building and the pace of work is accelerating and it’s great to be working with a motivated team of professionals and Caribbean nationals."

Rushman cited the fact that the Event Management department was "approaching the end of (its) planning and assessment and moving into an operational mode, looking at specific Match Day plans", as an indication of the progress that had been made.