The great West Indian players of the past such as Constantine, Headley, and the most representative of them all, Sir Frank Worrell, must be smiling from the special vantage point they occupy in heaven on recent developments in the English-speaking Caribbean region. For this region which they have fought so hard to make an important player in world cricket has been selected to host the prestigious Cricket World Cup in 2007. This became official when Prime Minister P J Patterson, the current Chairman of the Caribbean Community, signed the Agreement with the International Cricket Council (ICC) on November 3, 2003, giving the West Indies the responsibility for hosting this event. The decision to accord the West Indies is a direct result of the contributions it has made to the development of cricket generally and particularly for the style and grace with which the game is played in this part of the world. It is a right that the West Indies richly and justly deserves, as in the 75 years it has been a test playing nation, it has brought both joy, passion and happiness, to thousands of people across the globe. In the words of Prime Minister Patterson "at long last the West Indies has been afforded the deserved recognition of its contribution to cricket by its designation as host for the World Cup Tournament in 2007".
But the right to host the World Cup also implies onerous responsibilities. Among other things the region would have to emulate the achievements of the South African government which recently hosted one of the biggest and most successful World Cups ever. Moreover, the format for the World Cup itself will be quite extensive. Fifty-one games will be played, three fewer than the fifty-four games that the International Cricket Council (ICC) had originally announced. The first round will be a round-robin format for the second stage of the tournament. The second stage will feature the top two teams from each of the four groups. Each team will play six games, one game each against the teams that they have not previously played. The top four teams at the end of the second stage will progress through sudden death semi-finals with the winners moving through to the final. The final is expected to be played at one of the main venues in the Caribbean.
Planning and ensuring the success of this programme is not expected to be an easy task. Already the Chief Executive Officer of the CWC 2007 Inc. has made this observation: "The West Indies offers unique logistical challenges for a tournament of this nature." The Managing Director of Cricket World Cup 2007, the entity created by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), to play a leading role in the organization of the World Cup has highlighted the "enormous responsibility" that has been placed on the shoulders of the region for hosting "the World's third largest sporting event". Recently, speaking at the Annual Awards Dinner at the Queens Park Oval, he warned that the Caribbean must unite behind all efforts being made to ensure the success of the World Cup. Noting that staging the event is substantially different from hosting a test series, he pointed out that contractual breaches will ensure fines of huge sums of money, if any country "lets down the rest of the region by having a poor pitch or causing an abandoned match".
The English Caribbean has come under international scrutiny as it prepares to host the World Cup. In some quarters it is believed that the Caribbean facilities are not up to standard and that in particular in the service sector it will not be able to match the infrastructure of other countries. It was not surprising therefore that a report in an Australian newspaper some months ago caused quite a furore when it alleged that the ICC had asked the Australian government to stand by to host the tournament in the event that the West Indies was unable to do so. When the Agreement was signed on November 3, giving the WICB the contractual obligation to deliver the World Cup for 2007, both the President of the ICC, Mr. Enshan Mani, and its Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Malcolm Speed, denied the report. They claimed instead that the ICC would give the WICB all the necessary support to ensure a successful World Cup. Yet later on the ICC was to clarify that there will be a cricketing playing nation on standby as preparations proceed in the Caribbean, as was the case with the World Cup in South Africa.
In the meantime several Caribbean governments have started preparation in earnest to bid for a venue to host one of the World Cup games. These preparations are relatively well advanced in Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. Antigua has asked the Chinese government to build a brand new stadium for the event. Jamaica is known to be doing all that is necessary to host a match. And in the smaller islands, some of which already possess stadiums, events are proceeding apace. Guyana recently unveiled its design for a stadium when two Indian experts, engineer Ashok Thadani and an architect Praveen Kumar, sent by the Indian government to assist Guyana in preparing for its CWC 2007 bid, detailed a plan for a 20,000 seat stadium. The stadium is to be built on 40 acres of land with the cricket oval itself being 225 ft in radius. The Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Ms. Gail Teixeira, who was present for the occasion, according to the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) report, said "it was more important now than ever that the spirit of inclusivity be engendered by the participation of Guyanese from all walks of life in making sure that the country makes a strong bid and if successful, well prepared for hosting matches". The bids for venues will have to be submitted by May 2004 and it is expected that in July after ratification by the Caricom Heads the award of matches to host venues will be announced during a live televised news conference. There will be eight venues and these will require over 5,000 volunteers. Ms. Teixeira is chairman of the Bid Committee of Guyana as are several Prime Ministers and senior government functionaries of the region in their territories. As far as Bids are concerned, it is interesting to note that both Canada and Florida will be seeking to host some of the games. Recently New York tried to enter the fray but was advised by the ICC that it shared the same national boundaries with Florida!
The successful hosting of the Cricket World Cup 2007 will have a major impact on the economic, social and political life of the Caribbean. Caribbean governments will have to find the requisite unity and team spirit to pull off this event, for the region as a whole will have to upgrade its telecommunications, roads, networks, accommodation and security and pass legislation with regard to intellectual property rights and immigration. Caribbean governments have already given their support to World Cup 2007 Inc. and have secured the services of an adviser from the South African government who participated in the planning of the last World Cup. And recently it expanded the cricket sub-committee headed by Prime Minister Lester Bird, so that the community can play a greater role in ensuring a positive outcome to preparation for World Cup 2007. On the economic side it is expected that some US$500 million will be injected into the region and this will ensure the expansion in the tourism sector. World Cup Cricket 2007 Inc. has already hosted some 90 representatives of the hotel, cruise, airline and tour operator industries as well as Caribbean ministers of tourism and representatives of tourism organisations in London a few months ago to examine both the opportunities and challenges of hosting the World Cup. According to Chris Dehring, the Managing Director of CWC 2007 Inc. "the wider market is extremely excited by the opportunities that the event has to offer." In social and cultural terms the influx of thousands of global citizens is bound to leave a lasting imprint on this region.
It is unlikely that after the hosting of this event the Caribbean will ever be the same again. And it is poetic justice that cricket, which has done so much for this region, should be source of such a transformation.