BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – Tony Cozier will be honoured by authorities in his homeland, when his name will be one of three affixed to the reconstructed media centre at the new-look Kensington Oval.
Previously the Peter Short Media Centre, the new building will be able to house more than 400 media personnel, and will be known as the Coppin, Cozier, Short Media Centre.
The five-tier media centre will honour the 66-year-old Cozier; late Barbadian sports journalist Oscar ‘O.S’ Coppin, whose coverage of the game in pre-Independence Barbados blazed a trail; and Short, the former president of the Barbados Cricket Association and West Indies Cricket Board, who also had a stint as a radio commentator in the 1960s and 1970s.
Cozier has been described as “the most able, articulate, and respected West Indies cricket correspondent, and has gained worldwide reputation as a writer, as well as a broadcaster, both on radio and television.
The media centre is part of a US$67.5 million redevelopment of ‘the Mecca of Caribbean cricket’ ahead of the 2007 ICC World Cup for which the ground will host six Super Eight matches and the Final on April 28, Heroes' Day in the island.
But the media centre is not the only building that has been renamed.
Name changes have been made to a number of stands around the ground after consultations between members of the Barbados Cricket Association, the Ministry of Sports, the Barbados Tourism Investment Incorporated, the Government agency funding most of the redevelopment work, and the Barbados Government headed by Prime Minister Owen Arthur, an avid lover of the sport.
The very popular Kensington Stand, which for Barbadians is a favourite viewing spot on the western side of the ground, and has attracted international attention through the antics of local comedy star Mac Fingall, has been renamed the Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes Stand, after the durable Barbados and West Indies opening pair.
The hospitality suites which have been constructed on the top floor of the stand will be called the Dennis Atkinson and Seymour Nurse Suites.
Atkinson, who died a few years ago, was a former Barbados and West Indies captain, and his West Indies Test record for the seventh wicket of 348 with compatriot Clairmonte dePeiza against Australia in 1955 still stands.
The 73-year-old Nurse was an outstanding batsman for Barbados and West Indies in a career that spanned the late 1950s and early 1970s, and he is held in high regard by many who saw him bat for his skilful batting.
Authorities have also decided to rename the Challenor Stand which is located on the northern end of the ground.
It will now be the new Worrell, Weekes and Walcott Stand, honouring the famous Barbados and West Indies' batting triumvirate of Sir Everton Weekes, and the late Sir Frank Worrell and the late Sir Clyde Walcott.
Hospitality suites in the stand, which will be located on the third and fourth floors, will now be called the George Challenor Suites, in recognition of the originator of the great tradition of West Indies batsmanship.
The former Mitchie Hewitt Stand, located in the south-western corner of the ground, will bear the new name the Mitchie Hewitt and Eric Inniss Stand, while the hospitality suites will be called the Conrad Hunte Suites.
Hewitt and Inniss were two outstanding administrators of the game in Barbados and served on the BCA’s board at one time, while Hunte is the former Barbados and West Indies opening batsman, and he was the president of the BCA at the time of his death.
The Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith Stand retains its name, in honour of the two Barbados and West Indies fast bowling icons of the 1960s, and the seven suites which will be added, will be known as the Emmanuel ‘Manny’ Martindale Suites, in honour of another former Barbados and West Indies fast bowler of an earlier era.
The Barbadian authorities have also named the main course-way to the Garfield Sobers Pavilion and the Three Ws Stand – ‘Pickwick Place’.
The Malcolm Marshall (south) and Joel Garner (north) ends of the ground remain the same, and the Herman Griffith and John Goddard Gates – honouring two more pioneers of Barbados and West Indies cricket – were also untouched.
A release noted that a number of temporary buildings will also be constructed for CWC 2007, including the North Stand, Party Stand, South Stand, Media Centre East and West Annexes, the East and West Concourses, plus the West Gate, East Gate, and North Gate.