The West Indies Cricket Board Inc. (WICB) still has the agreement to stage the World Cup 2007 tournament and is committed and moving full speed ahead with plans for the successful staging of what will be the biggest sporting event ever held in the Caribbean, Guyana Cricket Board president Chetram Singh said yesterday.
Singh said a preliminary Master Plan being prepared by an interim World Cup committee of which Chris Dehring is the chairman.
"The master plan is currently being revised by the committee following which a permanent World Cup committee will be set up," Singh told Stabroek Sports yesterday.
Singh disclosed that hosting of games will not be automatic but will depend quite heavily on the facilities that are available.
Although crowd support and strength of dollar are factors Singh said that facilities will be the key to determining where matches will be staged.
A Venue Assessment Team (VAT) is to travel around the region to make a close inspection of the present facilities in the prospective host countries.
A bidding process will be used to allocate matches and bids will have to encompass the projected facilities, Singh said.
Singh disclosed that because of the International Cricket Council requirements the GCB have had to look for a site that will meet all the requirements of the ICC.
Initially there was an indication that matches would have been staged at the Georgetown Cricket Club's Bourda facility and a merger with the neighbouring Georgetown Football Club was on the cards to facilitate the hosting of the World Cup games.
However Singh said that option is no longer feasible.
"We are at the moment looking at alternative sites," he said.
"When we got what was required from the ICC, the GCC nor the GFC could not accommodate the requirements even if they decided to merge. No ground in the Caribbean except maybe St Lucia has the requirements," he said. At the moment there is no time frame for the completion of the facilities, Singh said adding that when the VAT team comes around then they will issue time frames.
Approximately 12-15 countries will be erecting facilities but only 6-7 will be the main ones used. However, Singh said the WICB could use more if they are available and meet the cut off date.