Saint Lucia has received the “thumbs-up” following its leg of the ICC Venue Tour when officials, representing various stakeholders, spent the day scrutinising the island`s level of preparedness for…
Saint Lucia has received the “thumbs-up” following its leg of the ICC Venue Tour when officials, representing various stakeholders, spent the day scrutinising the island`s level of preparedness for next year`s ICC Cricket World Cup.
Managing Director & CEO of ICC Cricket World Cup West Indies 2007 Inc., Chris Dehring, told that Saint Lucia is well organised and that their plans are almost “military” in precision.
“It is fair to say that this has probably been the easiest of all ICC Venue Tours to date because Saint Lucia has had the good fortune of proper planning and having a venue that is virtually ready and we congratulate them. They certainly have been leaders in the region in this regard and there weren’t that many things that needed commenting on,” he said.
Dehring indicated that the ICC and CWC were very happy with what they had seen from an operational standpoint. He applauded the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for their work and the intellectual input which he said would be relied upon heavily in the running of the ICC Cricket World Cup.
He expressed some concern with the up coming elections, scheduled for December 11, and advised Saint Lucians not to lose focus on the upcoming tournament.
“We certainly respect the democratic process and we know it must take place, but we would like everybody to remain focussed, from our perspective, on the deliveries of the Cricket World Cup. It is a challenge that requires everybody’s input, not withstanding their obligations and duties to perform in the democratic process,” Dehring stressed.
In his comments, ICC CWC 2007 Venue Development Director, Donald Lockerbie, said Saint Lucia showed off a venue that is “ready to go”.
“It has all the parts. It has all the working components. The stadium is already operational, even the improvements have been tested. We don`t have any night games, but the fact that you have your lights is useful. The Venue Operations Centre – our security area – had its chance to be tested. Improvements have been made to some of the VIP areas, even the media areas have already been tested and that puts you still in the lead, as far as being the venue that`s the most prepared for Cricket World Cup,” Lockerbie admitted.
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