BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – HOSTING cricket in St. Kitts and Nevis will soon be taken to a new level in keeping with the rest of the world as the Warner Park Cricket Stadium is set to be equipped with floodlights to facilitate night matches.
Work on the upgrade is set to begin at the end of February and will take just over two weeks to be completed.
In an interview with SKNVibes, Senior Sports Officer in the Ministry of Sports, Vernon Springer stated that in December 2012 the Federal Cabinet approved the writing for the lighting of the Warner Park Cricket Stadium recommended by Minister of Sports the Hon. Glenn Phillip.
“In a couple of weeks there will be a press conference and a signing ceremony with the folks who have been awarded the contract for the lights.
“There is also a timeframe in which we expect to have the lights up. We are behind the ball right now and we are trying to see if we can meet a deadline because the government of St. Kitts and Nevis has sent off a letter of intent to Verus International, who is responsible for the franchise base Caribbean T20 which is expected to start sometime this year,” Springer said.
He added that it is the Ministry’s aim to put St. Kitts in a position to host Caribbean Twenty20 matches.
“As you know, Sabina Park in Jamaica, Arnos Vale in St. Vincent and Warner Park are the only three venues in the West Indies that do not have lights, and we are positioning ourselves to compete to make sure we can host night cricket.
“It also means the St. Kitts Cricket Association can be given the oppourtunity where they can be able to organise their own territorial competition. Having lights, we can be able to promote the game in a very big way and in a family way. It is a beneft. There is a cost to it, but also some huge benefits.”
Springer noted that on completion, the Leeward Islands would have two venues upon which cricket could be played at nights, adding that the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua is the other one and it is already equipped with floodlights.
He also noted that following its completion, “there will be a test period to make sure everything is up and running”.
Springer intimated that the cost for the placement of the lights is being absorbed by the government as it seeks to upgrade the Stadium.
“The facility is owned by the government and so they will upgrage the stadium to the best of their ability. The lights will just be another investment and other things will be taking place on the ground as well.”
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 held last month.
At a press conference held at Warner Park in November, last, 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.
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.
