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Major work across all the nine host venues has stopped international cricket community from questioning the Caribbean’s readiness for the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007.

Speaking at a press conference in Nevis, the ICC chief executive, Malcolm Speed, noted that each ICC visit to the region for quarterly meetings has shown “significant progress” with stadia and other infrastructural development taking place for next year’s tournament.

“There is a level of excitement around the region now and around the world people have stopped asking ‘will the West Indies be ready?’. We are very pleased with the progress and we look forward to coming back to see a great World Cup,” he said.

As officials marked the countdown to event’s opening ceremony, international cricket’s top administrator noted there is nothing “unusual” about the fact that some work remains to be done at this stage.

“Things are always done in last days. It happens everywhere and it’s nothing to worry about. Chris Dehring and his team have done excellent job of getting it this far. It’s time to focus on the event and many positives that will come out of it,” added Speed.

He hailed the ninth edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup as tribute to “greatness of the West Indies teams between 1970s and 1990s”.

“The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has earned this…we want to recognise great contribution of those players to world cricket,” he said.

The ICC CWC 2007 managing director & CEO, Chris Dehring, cautioned that while CWC’s overall rating from the ICC regarding tournament preparations is “good”, there are some issues that require close monitoring.

He said the CWC headquarters will be communicating with each LOC regarding respective areas of concern in their preparations. A close eye, will be kept on practice facilities and operational elements, such as transportation plans.

Underlining the importance of world-class practice grounds, he stressed “experience of teams and officials is paramount” and special consideration must be given to their needs.

Source:The News