Stadium problems in Guyana

[usalion]

Well, more problems with the Windies, this time the stadium in Guyana is not ready for the Super Eights.....the venues have looked pretty empty- one has to question the wisdom of the World Cup in the West Indies....terrific atmosphere for touring teams, but apart from a couple of matches so far, pretty much an ordinary tournament for the supporters.

Quite a shame, really...

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Organisers warn of Guyana stadium chaos

AFP

March 24, 2007



An artist's impression of the Providence Stadium in Guyana © West Indies Cricket Board

World Cup organisers have warned of potential chaos at Super Eight matches in Guyana next week because the Providence Stadium is still not ready despite years of planning. The local organising committee and World Cup chiefs are already at loggerheads over the US$25 million venue.

On Friday, World Cup organisers relieved the local organising committee of control of the ground, with a British company taking charge in an effort to salvage the project ahead of the match between South Africa and Sri Lanka on March 28. Amongst the myriad problems at the venue, which is the only one on the South American mainland, are failures to provide security and crowd control turnstiles, poor accreditation facilities and video boards. Power shortages are also expected to blight the Indian-built venue.

Local media have also reported that Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad, which hosted first-round games, and Jamaica's Trelawny Stadium, where warm-up matches were played, are on stand-by to stage the six matches planned for Georgetown. "We are objecting to them invoking the Host Venue Agreement because we think it was unwarranted and while I cannot prevent them, we are co-operating with them fully," Karran Singh, chief executive of Guyana's local organizing committee, told AFP.

In a strongly worded e-mail to Singh, and Frank Anthony, the Guyana Sports Minister, Derek Jones, the World Cup's senior legal counsel, said the decision to take over responsibility for completing remaining aspects of the venue followed concerns that were raised during several weeks about their "failure to proceed satisfactorily or effectively" in relation to the Host Venue Agreement (HVA).

"Your failure to deal adequately with these and other areas has resulted in Cricket World Cup 2007 being unable to have confidence in your ability to deliver a fully functional operating Super Eight venue in accordance with your contractual obligations."

Singh assured World Cup organisers that they were working to ensure that the matches go ahead. "We have done what we believe in our opinion is the best we can do to host the World Cup... we will have the World Cup matches here in a few days," he said. Jones, however, said the World Cup organisers had "lost confidence in the ability of the local organising committee to provide proper site management for the project up to and through the tournament period".

 

[Romeo]

Guyana stage could be a farce


The South Africans experienced yet another frustrating day on Monday.
When they arrived at the field where they were supposed to start their preparations for Wednesday's first match in the Super 8 round against Sri Lanka, the conditions were totally inadequate.
Rain had made the pitch completely unplayable.
But, even if it had been dry, they would not have been able to practise on it.
Ordinary grass had been planted in various sections. Any ball landing there would either have rolled along the ground or shot through dangerously.
"Yet another day in which we won't do anything," exclaimed a frustrated André Nel.
His frustration is increased because he is not in the starting squad, but merely one of the "tourists" in the side.
Facilities inadequate
Not that Guyana is a tourist destination in any sense of the word. At this stage, it looks as if the Super 8 matches here are set to be a fiasco.
From inadequate training and other facilities at the new stadium where the matches will take place, which are shocking, to hotels that are not up to scratch.
The hotel accommodating the Irish team has no lift and the players had to lug their baggage up three floors.
In the South Africans' hotel, the players were greeted by dirty, muddy water when they opened their taps to shower.
Arthur said it was a great disappointment that the players couldn't practise, but it was something about which they could do nothing.
"It's given us the chance to sit down and analyse the defeat against Australia and get our planning in order for the Sri Lanka match," he said.
"But, we are still on track for what we want to achieve, even though we lost against Australia. We are playing the tournament phase by phase and have done our homework.
Rain stopped practice
"We know we need four wins in the Super 8 round to get us to the semi-finals, and that is our goal," he said.
The South Africans' plans to practise at the Providence Stadium, where the match will take place, later on Monday afternoon, were also wrecked, as it started raining hard. It looks as though the three matches that South Africa are due to play here against Sri Lanka, Ireland and Bangladesh may be ruined by rain.

 

[red+black]

The two worst places in the Caribbean are Jamaica and Guyana. The rest of the place is fine.

It's a shame the US didn't qualify so a couple games could have been held in Florida. Bermuda should have got 1 game also.

 

[Adrian Shelton]

West Indian grounds are better when 1/2 the crowd are hanging out of the trees.

 

[My North]

The two worst places in the Caribbean are Jamaica and Guyana. The rest of the place is fine.

It's a shame the US didn't qualify so a couple games could have been held in Florida. Bermuda should have got 1 game also.

that how bad the US are going at cricket, Bermunda qualifed ahead of them + the US cricket assocation has been suspened by the ICC, so that would not help. The US cricket team are long way for even competing in the 2009 ICC world cup qualifer.

 

[red+black]

Yeah I recall something about the US wanting to run cricket the way they want, and be separate from the ICC.

Maybe they'll run their own World Series!