Following is a statement by St. Kitts and Nevis' Minister of State in the Ministry of Tourism, Sports & Culture, Sen. the Hon. Richard "Ricky" Skerritt
Stooping Too Low Just to Attack Government &
(Ricky Skerritt responds to attack by Dr. C. Warner & The Democrat)
The political commentary on page 24 in the April 27, 2007 edition of The Democrat, entitled "St Kitts Carried CWC 2007 Dung Basket", demonstrates either Dr Warner's total lack of knowledge on the subject, or is a deliberate attempt to be dirty by misrepresenting the facts about Cricket World Cup 2007 and the participation by St Kitts & Nevis in that event. For Dr Warner to say that "all the sacrifice and expenditure effectively made St Kitts look like an inferior state" and that "those chosen to represent us failed to do so" because we did not attract matches beyond the first round, is a misleading and unwarranted attack on the hard-working Board, volunteers and employees of our Local Organising Committee (LOC), and our Ministry of Tourism, Sports & Culture, who served our country valiantly over the past three years in conceiving and organising our successful involvement in this prestigious international event.
The facts are that since early in 2004 the International Cricket Council (ICC) set the stadium capacity standards for those venues wishing to host one of four first round groups, Super 8 matches, the two Semi-finals, and the Final of the Cricket World Cup (CWC). The minimum capacity permitted was 7,500 for the first round "Orange Group" which included Australia; 10,000 for the group including India; and 15,000 for the two other groups including England and West Indies. The minimum capacity for Super 8 Matches was 12,000, the Semi-Finals 15,000, and the Final 20,000. The ICC also set
"preferred" capacities for venues. The preferred capacity for Super 8 Venues was 20,000, for the semi-finals 25,000, and for the Finals 30,000. The smallest preferred capacity was for the Orange Group at 10,000, which is the group that our LOC bid for and proudly won, having successfully competed for one of eight clearly pre-defined packages with 14 other competing venues.
One would have to be delusional to believe that St Kitts & Nevis should have planned to build a significantly larger stadium in order to bid for Super 8, Semi-final or Final Matches. A stadium is a long term investment which has to be maintained whether it is hosting an event or not. In light of the competition we faced, not only would our chances of a successful bid for Super 8 Matches have been slim at best, but a preferred stadium capacity of 20,000 would have placed on us an unreasonable expectation for return on investment and could not be justified especially in the context of our relatively small population.
The only realistic options facing our decision-makers in 2004 therefore, were (a) to bid for the Orange Group; (b) to bid for warm-up games only; or (c) not to bid at all. Not bidding was not an option because of our Government's far-sighted commitment to compete, and hosting only warm-up matches would not have given us the international television and other media exposure which our destination has since received from hosting World Champions Australia and South Africa. International market exposure was only one of several good reasons for our Country's bid and the dollar value of that exposure, to date, is estimated to be in the millions of dollars.
The Orange Group was unquestionably the more attractive of the first round groups for us because of the smaller preferred size of stadium required and including, as it did, the No. 1 and No. 2 One Day International (ODI) teams in the world. The Group also included two lesser known teams, but this was also true of all the other first round groups. Those of us who understand the organizational and commercial implications of our decision in 2004 are even more convinced since the event, that St Kitts & Nevis captured the prized first round group for CWC 2007. The benefits to our economy and to our Tourism and Sporting infrastructure are tremendous, and our Nation can be justifiably proud of what we have achieved locally, regionally and internationally.
It seems that in his anxious rush to criticize Government, Dr. Warner exposed his obvious disregard for facts and logic. His insinuation that those of us who led the CWC planning process are "mentally retarded" and "stupid" is a clear reflection on how low he stoops, and is a nasty mindless attack on the high quality efforts and results of our truly national effort. His unfortunate "political" commentary also seems conveniently oblivious to the fact that our Country's efforts have been praised by all who visited our shores for the event, including the regional and international media. Dr. Warner should at least apologise for insulting our many volunteers who gave so generously of their skills, their time and their knowledge in the national interest. To do otherwise would be petty and ungrateful.
Note: Sen. the Hon. Richard "Ricky" Skerritt is Minister of State in the Ministry of Tourism, Sports & Culture in the Federal Government of St. Kitts and Nevis and is a former Manager of the West Indies Cricket Team
Dr. Charles Warner is an unelected candidate of the opposition People's Action Movement (PAM) which has one seat in the 11-member National Assembly in St. Kitts and Nevis.
Check the Communication's Unit of the Office of the Prime Minister Website
@cuopm.org, cuopm.net or cuopm.com
