By Shawn Seabrookes
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
(Basseterre; St. Kitts): St. Kitts and Nevis' Prime Minister, Dr. the Hon. Denzil Douglas, said he was extremely pleased that his country was able to host matches in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup, and added that the construction of the new Warner Park Cricket Ground was a calculated venture to aid in the continued development of his country.
The Prime Minister made his comments while speaking at a press conference during the luncheon interval of the match South Africa versus Scotland, on Tuesday last, March 20th.
Dr. Douglas stated that the new cricket ground is a gift to the people of St. Kitts and Nevis from his Government and the Republic of China (Taiwan) and it is expected that it will become a major player in the exportation of the twin island state.
The St. Kitts and Nevis leader said he was not perturbed by the sub par attendance to the first three matches of the ICC Cricket World Cup that were played in St. Kitts as it is expected that there will not be packed grounds in the earlier rounds of the tournament.
He noted that the whole process of bidding for matches and actually hosting them was a long term investing that will significantly boost the tourism sector of the Federation.~~adz:Right~~
Prime Minister Douglas alluded to the fact that the country is getting extensive coverage from a number of outside media houses, who are showing various components of local culture, art, hospitality and general lifestyle and these clips are being seen by an estimated 2 billion people.
Already the new Warner Park ground has created a name for itself worldwide and etched itself in cricketing history as the venue where three world records were set in a single game, most noteworthy the six sixes in an over by Hershelle Gibbs of South Africa, he alluded.
The Prime Minister noted that the attendance for the fourth One Day between South Africa and Scotland showed a marked improvement in the number of persons attending the matches and he expected that the number would increase even more with the last two games on Thursday and Saturday, especially the final game between South Africa and Australia.
He urged the locals to continue to be supportive as the gate receipts from the matches will be 90% to 10% between the local government and the ICC, with the larger portion going to the government.
Minister of State in the Ministry of Sport, Culture and Tourism, Hon. Richard Skerritt, was in total support of the Prime Minister.
He disclosed that considering all costs, the local government spent approximately EC$50 million for the new Warner Park Grounds, and that was conservative spending, considering the tremendous benefits that can be derived from the entire project.
He revealed that his Ministry was already entertaining various usages of the grounds after the ICC Cricket World Cup, including hosting of local cricket matches, the host of the renowned St. Kitts Music Festival, and the hosting of several county teams.
He also indicated that the strong bids will be placed to the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to host home matches and once the ICC Champions Trophy is confirmed for the region, St. Kitts and Nevis will send in a bid, as it already has the facilities.
Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC), Mr. Charles Wilkin QC, was also on hand at the press conference. He confirmed that ticket sales for the last two matches of the preliminary round in St. Kitts have been significantly higher than the other matches, especially for the last game.
According to Wilkin, approximately 8000 tickets have been sold, the highest amount to be sold, for Saturday's Australia-South Africa match.
Warner Park's seating capacity is 10, 500.
