Howard Walker, Staff Reporter
JAMAICA CRICKET 2007, the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the International Cricket Council (ICC), West Indies, Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007, is proposing to move the practice venue from Jarrett Park to Orange Valley in Trelawny.
The recommendation was tabled and approved earlier this month and Robert Bryan, executive director of LOC, said they are pursuing that option vigorously.
"Those discussions had taken place and we have notified the Cricket World Cup organisation and by extension put a notice to the ICC that we would like for them to consider approving this shifting if we met the standards for a ground in Trelawny," Bryan told journalists at a press conference at the Jamaica Promotional Agency (Jampro) yesterday.
"We also believe that we have a responsibility to facilitate a critical mass of activities in Trelawny which is a host parish to this event and as a consequence, if the teams were practising in Trelawny it would give a greater mass of activity and bearing in mind that all teams, officials, etc.,would be living for that period, in St. James.
THE BEST PLAN
"When we met with the stakeholders in Trelawny and discussed this, all agreed that this is the best plan for all in Trelawny," he added.
Jarrett Park in St. James, was scheduled to host training sessions but concerns were raised whether Jarrett Park would be a dedicated cricket facility.
"In any case the refurbishing of Jarrett Park required expenditure and in a real sense, there were some issues about whether Jarrett Park would be a dedicated cricket ground because it is predominantly for football.
"The fact of the matter is, the stadium in Trelawny is not designated to be an official cricket ground. It is intended to be up for tender, a multi-purpose facility," Bryan noted.
"It is likely or possible that cricket may not be played there at all in the future. So in looking at that, Trelawny as we understand, based on these discussions, has no dedicated first class cricket facility and therefore as part of the plan we felt it was prudent to look to establish such a ground," said Bryan.
Jamaica has been awarded the Yellow Package which includes opening ceremony, six first round games and one semi-final of CWC 2007.
