BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE lack of floodlights at the Warner Park Cricket Stadium has led to the venue being excluded from hosting matches for the fourth edition of the West Indies Cricket Board Caribbean Twenty20 Tournament next year.
At a press conference held at Warner Park on Wednesday (Nov. 14), Corporate Communications Officer of the WICB, Imran Khan, said that St. Kitts and Jamaica were automatically eliminated from hosting any of the 2013 Caribbean T20 matches because neither the Warner Park Cricket Stadium nor Sabina Park is equipped with lighting facility.
He explained that there were no bids from countries whose venues were not equipped with lights, which is a requirement for hosting matches of the tournament.
Most, if not all, T20 matches are played at night.
Since it was built back in 2006, many fans were of the opinion that the new Warner Park Cricket Stadium should have been outfitted with floodlights, but the organisers had seen it fit not to equip the venue with same.
With the rapid development of the shortened version of the game, night cricket has become a key innovation and is the view of many cricket experts and enthusiasts as one of the keys in the revival of West Indies cricket.
This has proven true to form as the West Indies were recently crowned T20 World Champions.
Additionally, it is a known fact Test matches do not attract large spectators as in the past, and with T20 matches being played at night and only for a few hours, this version of the game is definitely attracting large crowds.
Khan declared that Trinidad and Tobago and St. Lucia have won the rights to host the fourth edition of the flagship regional Caribbean T20 Tournament.
Trinidad and Tobago will host the first part of the preliminary round at the Queen's Park Oval while the Beausejour Cricket Ground will host the second round and the play-offs as well as the final.
