Chris Dehring left, International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007 Managing Director shares a joke with Don Lockerbie right, the ICC's CWC's Venue Development Director during the ICC CWC 2007 Venue Summit VIII press conference at the Hilton Hotel in Kingston on Friday March 10, 2006. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):
Cricket World Cup boss, Chris Dehring said Monday he was excited about the start of the upcoming tournament, even as teams continued to arrive in the Caribbean for the event.
The tournament's chief executive and managing director said he was looking forward to years of intense planning culminating in a successful spectacle over the coming weeks.
"Words can barely describe how I am feeling. It has been really 10 years since we sat down around a table and set out on a course to host the Cricket World Cup," Dehring told CMC Sports Monday from his office in Jamaica.
First class bids
"Putting together that bid in 1998 all the way through to the bid process that we had in the Caribbean and countries submitting first class bids, the launch of our brand in India - all types of events that have taken place across this region to see this whole thing unfold.
"So to be hours away from the event, words really can't describe the excitement that I am feeling and the pride that I am feeling to be a part of it."
He added: "I really feel it has been a privilege for me to have been a part of it to have a ring side seat [to see] the level of unity and cooperation that has evolved across the Caribbean over these 10 years."
Already, four teams have arrived for the March 13 to April 28 event, which will he hosted across nine countries.
Canada, Bangladesh and Bermuda landed in Antigua last week to contest an ICC triangular One-Day International tournament there while Scotland arrived in Barbados Monday.
Another six teams are due in the Caribbean tomorrow with the remaining five teams scheduled to arrive Friday.
Dehring said despite the magnitude of the CWC project, there was an air of excitement and quiet confidence being exuded by organisers.
"Certainly at Cricket World Cup it is extremely exciting. You are seeing years and years of planning and wondering what will be taking place across the Caribbean now coming fully to fruition," the top official explained.
"We see venues now being finished and finalised, screws being tightened, electrical works being tested, operational elements of the event being tested so it's all very, very exciting.
bit of nerves
"Of course, for most people in the Caribbean who are working on this event who have never been involved in anything of this magnitude before, there's always a bit of nerves but I think at the end of the day there's a quiet amount of confidence that permeates the office."
Official CWC warm-up matches bowl off next Monday in four venues before the opening ceremony is staged in Jamaica on March 11.
Hosts West Indies will then raise the curtain on tournament action when they clash with Pakistan in the first match at Sabina Park in Jamaica on March 13.
"We've been saying for years how many years to go, then we broke that down in how many months to go and we broke that down into how many days and how many hours," Dehring said.
"Well, it's now here and if you can't feel it there must be something wrong with you because it's definitely here and we hope everybody comes on board, takes a personal piece of this World Cup to heart and really makes this a special event that the world will never, never forget."
