Members of the St. Vincent & the Grenadines Local Organising Committee (LOC) and the ICC CWC 2007 Event Management Department going through Match Day Operations Integration simulations at Arnos Vale Stadium. - Contributed

The chief executive officer (CEO) of Guyana's Local Organising Committee (LOC), Karan Singh, has lauded the ongoing Match Day Operations Integration and Communication Exercises being held in preparation for ICC Cricket World Cup 2007.

Following the two-day workshop which ended at his host venue yesterday, Singh noted the simulations of actual match-day scenarios were not only critical for officials to appreciate how various roles and programmes inter-link, but also to reassure the venue team and LOC staff that they are all ready for the tournament.

"The exercises that my team and the CWC Event Management Department (EMD) completed were not only necessary for the continued integration of various programmes but they were also critical for building the confidence of my team who have planned and worked so hard," stated Singh.

"Taking all their plans and actually understanding how they roll out on a match day will ensure that when Guyana's first match starts we are fully prepared to deal with every eventuality."

Manager of CWC's EMD, Trudy Clark, explained that in this "second round of workshops we are promoting a greater understanding of standard and non-standard operations, effective communication and timely decision-making. The training considers 'live' situations and scenarios for teams to work through as if they were operating on a match day.

"After years of planning, all the LOC teams are focusing on getting into execution mode and working through the practical implementation of detailed plans for each of the functional areas. We've adopted the motto 'The right people, making the right decisions in the right time frame' for the integration process, and once we stick to this everything should be fine," she added.

Guyana was the second host venue to undergo its Match Day Operations Integration, after St. Vincent & the Grenadines. The latter's core match-day team showed up in full force last Saturday and spent the first of their two days working through three scenarios in 'real time'. Each exercise was followed by a debriefing involving CWC and LOC officials.

Debriefing

There was an overall debriefing on Sunday, examining how each simulation was handled and how match-day operations could be improved. The final test for the St. Vincent & the Grenadines LOC will be their management of the February 17 final of the regional one-day tournament at Arnos Vale Stadium.

"They will be implementing CWC processes and procedures during this match which will be a trial for them," noted Clark.

Match Day Operations Integration continued yesterday and ends today in Trinidad & Tobago, followed by Grenada and St. Kitts & Nevis. Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua & Barbuda and Jamaica will hold their simulation workshops next month.