April 28, 2006
‘Let’s Show The World We Can Host An Amazing ICC CWC 2007’
Press release
Friday April 28, 2006
The region and international community should take note of the confidence of Barbadian Prime Minister Owen Arthur in the Caribbean’s ability to competently and successfully deliver next year’s ICC Cricket World Cup.
Stating he is heartened by this Head of Government’s overwhelming support for the Event being hosted in the region for the first time, ICC Cricket World Cup West Indies 2007 Inc. Managing Director & CEO Chris Dehring reiterated his view that the tournament – which in an unprecedented move will be held across nine countries – has the potential “to put the region’s stamp on the world like no achievement has ever done before”.
“A lot of expert planning and preparation is being invested in all areas of this Cricket World Cup and I am proud of how many aspects of it are being executed so far. There are challenges, as with every world sporting event, but these should not be made out to be insurmountable odds,” he reasoned, reacting to Arthur’s speech at the launch of The Cricket Legends of Barbados last Friday in Bridgetown.
Addressing those gathered for the Legends event, including a number of former Barbados cricketers who have represented the West Indies, Arthur said Caribbean governments must not second-guess themselves or determine their commitment to hosting Cricket World Cup “on the basis of how much the World Cup expenditure amounts to relative to its gate receipts”.
Reiterating his Government’s commitment to moving “heaven and earth to ensure that our sponsorship and hosting of a (Cricket) World Cup is an absolute credit to what this small country can achieve”, the Barbadian leader stressed that bringing Cricket World Cup to the Caribbean must be seen as “an expression of our confidence to perform on the global stage and to do this well”.
“Mr. Arthur has put the Cricket World Cup into perspective regarding the future and status of this region. His statement that ‘it is an expression of confidence in who we are and what we can do as a people that the Caribbean Governments – no matter how financially strapped may be our circumstances – should pursue the belief that this region should host something as important as a Cricket World Cup’ should be inspiration to us all,” stated Dehring.
“I have said before and I will say again that we, the people of the Caribbean, must be first to defend this Event being hosted on our home soil. We cannot afford to be distracted by the naysayers, even those among us, especially at this crucial juncture.
“It is significant that one of our regional Prime Ministers has candidly acknowledged that ‘every major undertaking in the Caribbean is attended by the expression of cynicism and belief that we cannot do it’. This is a view that we can dispel forever by hosting the Cricket World Cup to unparalleled standards.”
Dehring’s comments coincide with today’s one-year countdown to the ICC Cricket World Cup’s final at Kensington Oval in Barbados. It will be the culmination of eight weeks of world-class cricket, starting with the first of 16 Warm-up fixtures on March 5, 2007, and highlighted by 51 tournament matches in 47 days.
As the region continues its progress towards Cricket World Cup, the ICC CWC WI 2007 Inc. Managing Director said every citizen of the Caribbean must ponder one collective question – What do we want people to say about us when this journey is finished?
“One year from today this will all come to a crescendo and we have to keep in mind what kind of crescendo – what legacy, if you will – we want to have and what we want the world to think and to remember about the experience,” he declared, agreeing with Arthur that “it’s part of our birthright” to host the most prestigious tournament in a sport to which the Caribbean has contributed immeasurably.
The coming months, Dehring pointed out, will be extremely important with the launch of Public Ticketing on Monday (May 1), various ICC inspections of Host Venues and meetings with CWC 2007 officials upcoming and venue development moving towards the October 2006 completion deadline.
“There are challenging but exciting times ahead and, as we go about our respective tasks in preparation for Cricket World Cup 2007, we will all require even more resolve and commitment to fulfill our goal of hosting an amazing Cricket World Cup.
“Not a lot of time is left. We will mark 300 days to the Opening Ceremony in just over two weeks. This is the home stretch and we must be at our most productive and determined now,” said Dehring.
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NOTE: The Cricket Legends of Barbados is a company formed and owned by all living Barbadians to have represented the West Indies but who are now retired from the game. It will seek to recapture the glory days of the game and produce memorabilia for the global market.
