IS WE TIME!
- Anthony promises world class event, no chaos
By Neil Marks
Guyana Chronicle
March 28, 2007
CRICKET World Cup (CWC) bowls off in Guyana today and the chairman of Guyana’s Local Organising Committee, Dr. Frank Anthony says a world class event is what will “shut up” the mouths of critics who have blasted Guyana’s preparations over the past weeks.
“We’re ready. All systems are go and we are waiting for the first set of spectators (this morning),” Anthony declared yesterday.
Rains put a damper on spirits over the past few days, but sunshine yesterday brought hopes sky high for a rain-free event and the Sports Minister said he was not concerned about the pitch and outfield. “It’s excellent.”
The Guyana National Stadium at Providence, East Bank Demerara is the venue for the six matches in the Super Eight rounds of CWC 2007.
Bad press, especially reports suggesting that the International Cricket Council (ICC) CWC had wrested the stadium from the LOC when, in fact, cricket’s governing body only stepped in to assist with preparations, affected ticket sales, Anthony said.
However, for the opening match at Providence, which will see Sri Lanka battle South Africa, he expects 60 per cent of the 15,000 seats to be filled.
Anthony, perturbed too by press reports that there would be chaos in Guyana for the games, made clear that the management structure in place does not allow for this to happen.
He said apart from the 380 security personnel, trained by both the Guyana Police Force and Oriel Solutions, an international security management firm contracted by the ICC, volunteers and other staff, altogether totalling some 2,000 will manage the successful hosting of the games.
“We don’t anticipate chaos. I don’t know with 2,000 people to manage this process how there could be any chaos.”
Guyana Stadium manager, Mr. Anthony Xavier, said both the South African and Sri Lankan teams had practice at Providence yesterday and declared “we are more than ready”.
At the weekend, ICC CWC 2007 Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Mr. Chris Dehring said both ICC and ICC CWC WI 2007 were happy with preparations for the Guyana leg of the tournament.
"The pitch and outfield are ready and we’re just fine-tuning various elements now,” he said Saturday.
Chief Executive Officer of the LOC Mr. Karran Singh said “everyone has been working very hard for a long time and this is the moment we have all been waiting for.”
He expressed confidence that ticket sales will pick up.
“I think now that the tournament is rolling and people are seeing the excitement on television and the fans enjoying themselves, the fever has caught on and they want to be a part of it. This is a significant time in Caribbean history and it’s not to be missed,” he added.
To host CWC, Guyana received a gift of US$6M from the Indian government and a further US$19M as a soft loan to build the stadium at Providence.
An additional US$5-10M was spent on other works to get the venue ready.