
By Neto Baptiste
Ongoing work at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium could mean that Antigua will not host matches in the upcoming Cricket West Indies (CWI) CG United Men’s Super50 Cup slated to bowl off in October.
This is according to CEO of Cricket West Indies, Johnny Grave, who said that in addition to changes to the format of the competition, critical work at the stadium at North Sound may not be concluded in time for the tournament.
“Under the new Director of Cricket, Miles Bascombe, his preference is for us to play one round basically so that everyone plays each other once, and then have a semifinal and final so that change, in addition to some much-needed work at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, probably means that Antigua won’t be hosting the Super 50. The work happening on the square will take place and we’ll make sure it is absolutely world class for when England comes here in early December so we’re just making those changes now but it is likely we’ll play across three venues in terms of the Super 50 with everyone playing each other once,” he said.
Grave said that ongoing work on the pitches and other areas of the stadium is to facilitate two major events later this year, to include a pending tour by England.
“Antigua will be hosting our first-ever academy tours, the Ireland Emerging Players academy is coming to Antigua in November to play our academy, and that will then lead into the England series were we are hosting two One-Day Internationals, West Indies v England at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in the first week of December,” he said.
“We want to get that work that’s happening to the wicket and playing surface in particular, completed at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium over the next six to eight weeks, and then we will test out those new wickets with some games between the Academy and Ireland, and that would them lead into hopefully having world class surfaces for when West Indies play England in December,” he added.
The Ireland Emerging Players will play a number of four-day and 50-over matches against the West Indies at both the Coolidge Cricket Ground and the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
The CEO said that work at the stadium encompassed almost all aspects of the facility.
“We’re looking to make some improvements at the stadium, particularly at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium and increase the amount of capacity we’ve got there. At the practice facilities, and obviously with 20 teams coming to the Caribbean, all wanting to train and prepare, requires a lot of stress on our practice facilities, but we’re looking at, not just here in Antigua, but across the region, enhancing and expanding our practice facilities that are available to our professional teams,” Grave said.
In June, CWI hosted the Professional Cricketers draft for the Territorial Board Franchises. Each Franchise drafted five players to complete their 15-member squads for an interim three (3) month period ahead of the Super50 Cup.
Each team had already retained 10 players, and the Professional Cricketers Draft enabled each team to add five players to complete their 15-member squads.