Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer
SABINA PARK and the Greenfield stadium in Trelawny, Jamaica's two venues for the Cricket World Cup in 2007, will be ready to host first-class and Test matches in the 2006 season.
Robert Bryan, executive director of Jamaica Cricket 2007, disclosed this information this week during a speech to the Kiwanis Club of Kingston luncheon at the Hilton Kingston Hotel.
Bryan says reconstruction on the Sabina Park facility is well under way with work on the field completed and passed by inspectors from the International Cricket Council (ICC).
"The George Headley Stand is pretty much completed, we just have some cleaning up to do and we are now working on the (new) North Stand which replaces the Air Jamaica Stand, the media facility, the Mound as we know it and the compound that housed the scoreboard," Bryan said.
Bryan added that the new stand will include corporate boxes and suites, players and media facilities. He says a new electronic scoreboard and video screens will be erected over the new Mound; both will be in place by the time India play the West Indies in the fourth and final Test match at Sabina Park between June 30-July 4.
25,000 SPECTATORS
Work on the Greenfield site, Bryan revealed, started earlier this year and once completed the facility will accommodate 25,000 spectators. He did not give a specific date for its opening, but said regional first-class matches will be played there in the 2006/2007 season.
The Greenfield stadium is the venue for the opening ceremony of Cricket World Cup 2007 and is scheduled to host some of the tournament's warm-up matches.
Eight matches in Group D of the preliminary round will be played at Sabina Park. The West Indies, Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Ireland are the teams in Group D with the hosts and Pakistan meeting in the opening match of the tournament.
Jamaica is one of eight territories hosting matches for the ninth World Cup cricket championship. Australia are defending champions.
