Fans checked for weapons at Bourda

GEORGETOWN: Many spectators attending the four-Test series between the West Indies and Australia are being scanned for weapons and restricted from access to the players as authorities tighten security.

On the opening day on Thursday, most of the estimated 8,000 spectators at the Bourda Cricket Ground were scanned for weapons in procedures intended to meet demands of the visitors and the game’s governing body, officials said. “This is a dress rehearsal for the 2007 cricket World Cup, and this is the first time security has ever been so tight at Bourda,” security chief Conrad Plummer said. “This is also the first time that everyone going into the ground will be scanned for weapons, and this would continue until the match here is over.” The heightened security has come amid a violent crime wave in parts of the South American country that has left more than 200 people dead since February 2002.

Plummer said Australian cricket officials and the London-based International Cricket Council (ICC) were adamant that security be tightened given incidents on the last Australian tour of the Caribbean four years ago, when dozens of spectators invaded the Bourda playing area thinking the West Indies had beaten the visitors in an exciting one-day match. Several Australian players were forced to quickly exit the playing area to avoid over-exuberant spectators. Plummer said that authorities have for the first time set up closed-circuit cameras in the main pavilion and in the players’ dressing room to ensure none is hurt. “Getting it right is very important because we are going to bid to host matches in the 2007 World Cup, and the ICC wants to ensure that we are able to do so,” Plummer said.