It will be a tight squeeze. But organisers say Jamaica's headquarters of cricket, Sabina Park, which is currently under construction for next year's Cricket World Cup will be ready to host two One-day Internationals between the West Indies and India on May 20 and 21, as planned.

"Obviously we still have a lot of work left to be done," Robert Bryan, CEO of Jamaica's Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the ICC/WI Cricket World Cup 2007 told the Sporting World earlier this week. "But the main thing (for WI/India one dayers) is to have the north stand at the level where the seating bowl will be completed and the basic structure of the stands are in place and then we will work around whatever temporary things we need," he added.
A five-day Test match between West Indies and India is also scheduled for late June at Sabina Park.

Construction work being done on the north stand at Sabina Park. (Photo: Joseph Wellington)

For next year's World Cup, Sabina Park will host seven games including the World Cup opener and a semi-final.
A second stadium being built with Chinese expertise and financing in Northern Trelawny on Jamaica's north coast will host the World Cup's opening ceremony as well as four warm-up games.

The obvious infrastructural benefits to regional cricket apart, hundreds of millions of US dollars will be channeled through Caribbean economies as a result of the World Cup which will be the biggest single project ever undertaken in the region. It's expected that well in excess of 100,000 visitors will travel to the Caribbean for the tournament.

World Cup planners say that even though there will be rigorous constraints to prevent the infringing of sponsors' brands and marks (ambush marketing), the tournament will provide unprecedented business opportunities in such areas as accommodation, transportation, merchandising, food and entertainment.

Bryan concedes that based on the original projections, Sabina Park - one of 12 "state-of-the-art" stadiums being built or renovated for World Cup "events - is about four to six weeks behind schedule. But he insists that the building crews will catch up.

When completed, the north stand - an elaborate curved structure - will be the most obvious new feature of Sabina Park which is being renovated by the Israeli/Jamaica company, Ashtrom Building Systems Ltd at a cost of US$29 million. The figure has been revised from an original just-under US$25 million.

The stand will extend from what used to be the Eastern Bleachers, replacing the previous facilities to the north including the Red Stripe Mound, the press box and the 'Air Jamaica Stand' and will adjoin the Kingston Club Members Pavillion to the west. The old structures were demolished months ago.
The plan is for the north stand to have 7,500 seats involving private suites, club level and general seats as well as state of the art facilities for media, players and officials.

"The basic commitment is that the basic structure of the North Stand will be completed for the one-day games in May. All the finishes won't be done . (but) the facilities for the players etc are now located in this new stand so it is very important that that part of the exercise be at a level that is acceptable by May," said Bryan.

A visit to Sabina Park this week showed men and heavy machinery hard at work on the foundations of the huge, new stand. Melbourne Road to the north of Sabina Park is being incorporated into the expanded ground. Across that road, property and private residences have also been acquired as part of the effort to modernise the historic ground which dates back to the 19th century.

Practice pitches (there is a tentative plan for indoor practice as well) will be among the new facilities behind the north stand, virtually at the back door of the players' dressing room.

Perhaps the most comforting thing for the LOC is that the field, complete with new irrigation and a sub-surface drainage system was completed as long ago as early last year. The field which was dug up and redeveloped by Gregori International - the same firm that modernised the National Stadium field - passed with flying colours when international cricket was played on it against South Africa and Pakistan.

Also, while it looks much the same from the outside, work on the remodeling of the George Headley Stand to the south, has been substantially completed. More seating, new bathrooms, concessionary facilities and a spectator concourse, replacing the old basement car park, are among the additional features at the George Headley Stand.

The north stand apart, work remaining to be done at Sabina ahead of next year's World Cup, include the development of a party stand and a grassy knoll along the lines of the old Red Stripe Mound to replace the old Eastern Bleachers.

A video combination scoreboard will also be located to the east.
Bryan confirmed that negotiations with the Jesuit-run St George's College for the lease of Emmet Park - the sports field located just over the western wall from Sabina Park - was mostly complete with just "small details" left to be ironed out. There was controversy a year ago, following reports that St George's College was demanding US$1 million for a short lease on the ground. But while declining to give figures, Bryan said a "reasonable" sum had been agreed that was "okay" for both sides.

The open space to be provided by Emmet Park is seen as vital, since it will allow for hospitality tents, sponsorship activities, and support services.
The LOC will not touch the Kingston Cricket Club's historic members pavilion but Bryan said it was his understanding that the club, which substantively owns Sabina Park, "will do some renovative work."

While time lines are tight for Sabina Park because of the need to play international cricket there in May and June, there are no such concerns for the stadium in Trelawny, at the so-called greenfield site.
Complant, the Chinese firm building the US$30 million multi-purpose stadium has said that its construction programme is ahead of schedule and will be completed well ahead of time for the World Cup.

Bryan said this week that the pitch square and outfield were also on target. "The pitch is being laid now and we have an agreement to play regional and domestic matches there later this year to test the quality," Bryan said. The 'test' games will be watched by the ICC pitch inspector.

The development of the pitch square is being supervised by engineer, Patrick Gordon, who played a lead role in the rehabilitation of the Sabina Park pitch following the embarrassing abandonment of a Test match there in 1998 because the playing surface was considered dangerous and unfit for play.

Following their success at Sabina Park and the National Stadium, Gregori International are also the sub-contractors developing the outfield at the Trelawny facility, including the irrigation and drainage systems.
'We expect the grass to be in place and growing by the third week in February," said Bryan.

Over the next 12 months, building up to the World Cup a major challenge for the local organisers will be how to deal with issues such as transportation and accommodation.

Organisers say there are more than enough hotel rooms in Jamaica to deal with the expected influx of visitors. But a difficulty will be that the World Cup will be at the height of the tourist season - in the first quarter of the year.
But says Bryan, that reality will provide opportunities for private citizens to make extra money by inviting residents into their homes on "bed/breakfast" programmes etc, for the duration of the World Cup.

Moving visitors from hotels on the north coast and elsewhere to the cricket matches in Kingston will require a major transportation plan involving the entire community. Also, Bryan said, a security plan has been drafted with the full involvement of the security forces.

Parking for the games at Sabina will be provided at the National Stadium complex, Up Park Camp, National Heroes Circle, UDC and Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) spaces downtown. From those locations people will be shuttled to Sabina Park.

Those being bused in from hotels across the country will disembark at designated points close to the ground.
Bryan estimates that between four and five thousand volunteers will be needed for a range of services and recruiting will begin over the next few months.

"We will need volunteers as support staff for visitor arrivals at the airport, for the teams, for support at the park and ride locations, advising customers coming into the stadiums on various things. We need them to be inside the stadium as visitor guides, hospitality guides, directional guides, runners. We need them at the hotels to be able to guide and support the teams and the officials and we need them in the towns to be the eyes and ears for Jamaica as a proud host.

"Again we will also need volunteers in the sector planning areas, in transport, medical and some of the administrative sides of planning and we are going to need a lot of volunteers to support the opening ceremony," he said.

The LOC has been working closely with the business community as part of the drive to get across the message that the World Cup presents a major opportunity for economic improvement both at the individual and national level. That programme says Bryan will soon be broadened to involve the entire country.

"We are now getting ready to roll out to the country a communication and marketing programme . we really want to unfold a mass mobilisation of the country not only in Jamaica (but also Jamaicans abroad) to focus on what is the opportunity that is present in holding and hosting the World Cup . in terms of changing the development trajectory of the country," he said.

myersg@jamaicaobserver.com

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