THE Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium is one the legacies after the Caribbean hosted the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

However, and after three years, it is yet to be classified as an international cricket venue in the region.

The recent upsurge in civil unrest in Kingston forced the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) last Wednesday to shift the fifth One-Day International (ODI) and first Test against South Africa from Sabina Park to the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad.

Such a move, however, has raised questions about the Trelawny Stadium, as many Jamaicans believed the matches should go there.

But that wouldn’t be possible, argued WICB directors Paul Campbell, president of the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) and Ernest Hilaire, who is the chief executive officer.

“When we decided to move the matches from Kingston we did consider first of all whether we should move it to Trelawny, but there were two major limiting factors which had to be considered,” said the Board CEO during an interview Friday on radio.

“One: The fact that the pitch had not been subject to any extensive cricket and certainly international cricket at the level for which it would require to do so at very short notice,” added Hilaire.

“And two: The broadcasters require particular facilities and infrastructure to be in place.”

The decision to relocate the games from Jamaica is a major blow for the JCA, which stands to lose millions of dollars in projected revenue, while a concerted amount of effort in preparation has seemingly all gone down the drain.

There is also the consideration of added cost preparing the Trelawny Stadium, which is owned by the state, while Sabina Park is part-owned by the JCA.

But importantly, they reasoned, the integrity of the pitch and the security of the players were of paramount importance.

Hilaire said: “I don’t think we were prepared to take that chance and hope that the pitch would stand up to the rigours of not just a one-day, but a five-day Test match, which would require extensive preparation.”

And without assurance from the government’s security force, it would be too risky, explained Campbell.

“The security forces who have been part of preparation and planning for the event indicated that they could not commit resources and that represents a significant and important part of the planning and execution process,” he said.

If time was available, said Campbell, the Trelawny Stadium could be an alternate venue for the Test and ODI games.

In fact, it was part of the original plan, Hilaire noted, with the fifth ODI selected to play there. But the high pitch preparation and maintenance cost forced the organisers to shelve those plans.

This will no doubt give fodder to those who are of the view that the Trelawny Stadium is a ‘white elephant’, with which Campbell disagrees.

“The Trelawny stadium is not (ideally) a cricket stadium, but an entertainment and sport facility. We recently hosted some of our matches from our cricket festival there… and it is the home venue for the Trelawny Cricket Association.

“As far as we are concerned, we continue to use it and will continue to use it as best as possible… and the JCA definitely has plans to make Trelawny an international venue for Test and one-day cricket.”

The Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium which was constructed for the 2007 Cricket World Cup.