Windies vs Pakistan open W/Cup 2007

During yesterday’s ceremony at Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s, the ICC Cricket World Cup West Indies 2007 held their brand launch, unveiled the tournament’s official logo and mascot, as well as outlined the schedule of the matches, from the warm-up stage on March 5, to the final on April 28.

Among the cricketing dignitaries in attendance were ICC president Eshan Mani; outgoing president of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Teddy Griffith; Chris Dehring, Chief Executive Officer of ICC Cricket World Cup West Indies; Rawle Branker, Cricket World Cup 2007 chairman and Don Lockerbie, Venue Development Director.

The West Indies, winners of the first two World Cups in 1975 and 1979, will oppose the Pakistanis, World Cup 1992 champs, at the renovated Sabina Park on March 13 in front of a capacity crowd of 30,000.  

Dehring noted that all matches in the group stages (six matches in each venue for 11 days), as well as the Super Eight, semifinals and final, will have an allocated reserve day. And, if a reserve day is needed for a game, the match will continue from its overnight position instead of a new contest altogether.

The West Indies, in Group D with Zimbabwe and Ireland, will conclude their round-robin phase on March 23 against Ireland.

Australia will kick-start the defence of their title against minnows Scotland at Warner Park, St Kitts on March 14 while South Africa and the Netherlands will complete Group A at the venue expected to hold at least 10,000.

The Queen’s Park Oval here in Trinidad will be the venue for Group B, including 2003 losing finalists India, Sri Lanka, Bermuda and Bangladesh while another picturesque ground, the 20,000-seater Beausejour Stadium, St Lucia, will stage Group C fixtures featuring England, New Zealand, Kenya and Canada.

The top two teams in the respective groups will then progress to the second stage - Super Eight Series - with each team playing the other (excepting the team from their own group) from March 27 until April 21.

For this phase, games will be contested at Kensington Oval, Barbados (expected to house 32,000), another upgraded venue Queen’s Park, Grenada (capacity 20,000) and two new facilities, the 20,000-seater Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua and Providence Stadium, Guyana (expected to hold 20,000).

Meanwhile, warm-up matches will take place on March 5, 6, 8 and 9 at four venues - which will not be used for the actual W/Cup contests - Group WA (West Indies, India, Kenya and Netherlands) at Trelawny, Jamaica; Group WB (Australia, England, Bermuda and Zimbabwe) at Arnos Vale, St Vincent; Group WC (South Africa, Pakistan, Canada and Ireland) at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, South Trinidad and Group WD (Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Bangladesh and Scotland) at the 3Ws Oval, Barbados.

The semis will take place at Sabina Park, Jamaica on April 24 and, a day later, in St Lucia with the final set for April 28 at Kensington Oval.

Match Schedules:

Pool 1 - St Kitts/Nevis - Australia, South Africa, Netherlands, Scotland.

Pool 2 - Trinidad and Tobago - Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Bermuda.

Pool 3 - St Lucia - New Zealand, England, Kenya, Canada.

Pool 4 - Jamaica - West Indies, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Ireland.

Warm-up matches:

Group WA at Trelawny, Jamaica - March 5 - West Indies vs Kenya; March 6 - India vs Netherlands; March 8 - Kenya vs Netherlands; March 9 - West Indies vs India.

Group WB at Arnos Vale, St Vincent - March 5 - England vs Bermuda; March 6 - Australia vs Zimbabwe; March 8 - Zimbabwe vs Bermuda; March 9 - Australia vs England.

Group WC at Tarouba, Trinidad - March 5 - South Africa vs Canada; March 6 - Pakistan vs Ireland; March 8 - Ireland vs Canada; March 9 - Pakistan vs South Africa.

Group WD at 3W’s Oval, Barbados - March 5 - Sri Lanka vs Scotland; March 6 - New Zealand vs Bangladesh; March 8 - Scotland vs Bangladesh; March 9 - New Zealand vs Sri Lanka.

Opening Ceremony - March 11 at Trelawny, Jamaica.

Group Stages:

Group A at St Kitts/Nevis - March 14 - Australia vs Scotland; March 16 - South Africa vs Netherlands; March 18 - Australia vs Netherlands; March 20 - South Africa vs Scotland; March 22 - Scotland vs Netherlands; March 24 - Australia vs South Africa.

Group B at Trinidad - March 15 - Sri Lanka vs Bermuda; March 17 - India vs Bangladesh; March 19 - India vs Bermuda; March 21 - Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh; March 23 - India vs Sri Lanka; March 25 - Bermuda vs Bangladesh.

Group C at St Lucia - March 14 - Kenya vs Canada; March 16 - England vs New Zealand; March 18 - England vs Canada; March 20 - New Zealand vs Kenya; March 22 - New Zealand vs Canada; March 24 - England vs Kenya.

Group D at Jamaica - March 13 - West Indies vs Pakistan; March 15 - Zimbabwe vs Ireland; March 17 - Pakistan vs Ireland; March 19 - West Indies vs Zimbabwe; March 21 - Zimbabwe vs Pakistan; March 23 - West Indies vs Ireland.

Second Stage - Super Eight Series

At Antigua - March 27 - D2 vs A1; March 29 - D2 vs C1; March 31 - A1 vs B2; April 2 - B2 vs C1; April 4 - C2 vs B1; April 8 - A1 vs C2.

At Guyana - March 28 - A2 vs B1; March 30 - D1 vs C2; April 1 - D2 vs B1; April 3 - D1 vs A2; April 7 - B2 vs A2; April 9 - D1 vs C1.

At Grenada - April 10 - D2 vs A2; April 12 - B1 vs C1; April 14 - A2 vs C1; April 16 - A1 vs B1; April 18 - D1 vs B1; April 20 - A1 vs C1.

At Barbados - April 11 - C2 vs B2; April 13 - A1 vs D1; April 15 - B2 vs D1; April 17 - A2 vs C2; April 19 - D2 vs B2; April 21 - D2 vs C2.

Semi-finals -

First semi-final at Jamaica - April 24 - 2 vs 3.

Second semi-final at St Lucia - April 25 - 1 vs 4.

Final at Barbados - April 28.