Cricket-News.Org

ICC Cricket World Cup West Indies 2007 Inc. Managing Director & CEO, Chris Dehring, has described last weekend’s interaction with the Caribbean community in New York as “extremely positive and a clear indication of the great interest they have in Cricket World Cup”.

Furthermore he has announced that ICC Cricket World Cup West Indies 2007 Inc. will be leveraging on the upcoming series of One-Day International (ODI) matches between the West Indies and India in major North American cities to undertake significant promotional and outreach activities for the tournament.

“This weekend provided great insight into just how much persons of Caribbean origin – and others within cricketing circles – want to know about the Cricket World Cup. I gave a full-fledged presentation on the Event at the town hall meeting and I spent a significant amount of time answering questions there and at an earlier meeting with a cross-section of media (last Friday).

“Though they were arranged at short notice, these opportunities to meet and discuss issues related to Cricket World Cup with the Caribbean Diaspora were definitely worthwhile. I anticipate that the information shared in both fora will be spread far and wide,” said Dehring.

Taking advantage of the ICC CWC 2007 Managing Director’s trip to New York for meetings with the American, Canadian and Indian cricket boards, the CARICOM Consuls General invited him to meet and speak with media and the Caribbean Diaspora last Friday (June 2, 2006); updating them on developments regarding ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 which will be held across nine Caribbean countries next March and April.

First, Dehring addressed a cross-section of Caribbean and Indian media representatives, outlining “where we were in the planning” before fielding several questions. This, he reported, was “a particularly enthusiastic meeting…and they were appreciative that I met with them”.

Later that evening, he was the guest speaker at a town hall meeting in the school auditorium of St. Mark’s Church in Brooklyn where a crowd of at least 50 persons absorbed a detailed presentation on ICC CWC 2007 and its Ticketing process.

“This also went very well. There was excellent interaction with the audience though the heavy rains that night no doubt affected attendance,” added Dehring.

He assured, however, that there will be more opportunities for the North American community to be informed of what’s happening with ICC CWC 2007 later this year.

“Officials from Cricket World Cup will definitely be back in North America in the coming months. This is an important market for Cricket World Cup and for the development of international cricket as a whole. We will be using the upcoming One-Day games between the West Indies and India to promote next year’s tournament and to boost interest in the sport in general,” he elaborated, adding that there may be further promotional initiatives in major cities.

Regarding Saturday’s meeting with the cricket boards, Dehring said each board was assigned specific responsibilities and a number of matters were finalised. The proposed One-Day series, a joint venture between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to spur cricket’s development in Canada and the USA, will be staged in leading North American cities later this year.