BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - WITH the ‘biggest party in sports’, the Limacol Caribbean Premier League, set to bowl off on Friday in Grenada, preparations in St. Kitts and Nevis are progressing in anticipation of the nine games set to be hosted at the Warner Park Cricket Stadium.
In an exclusive interview with SKNVibes Sports, Senior Sports Officer in the Ministry of Sports Vernon Springer highlighted the preparation work taking place at the venue.
“In terms of the Warner Park Cricket Stadium, ongoing work is taking place there. We are building a VVVIP. That will host the Prime Ministers, Piers Morgan, the other celebrities and the sponsors.
“That will also give us a more revenue stream opportunity for us to free up the General boxes we have in the southern stand area. Lots of work taking place even on the square itself.
“We have the pitch consultant from the CPL...Kim Crafton will be here on the weekend. The head groundsman, Stedroy Douglas, has been working hard. Levy Adams has also been working hard in Conaree to get that ground prepared as it would be a practice venue.
“In terms of the other surroundings we are going to be doing other work getting things in place in the bar areas, VIP section. We are also going to be installing some new television screens. “
He also pointed out that in one month St. Kitts and Nevis would be hosting 11 international games, including two games between West Indies and Bangladesh.
The question was also posed to Springer whether the facility could bear the burden of these games.
“You would recognise so far for 2014 we hosted back to back regional four-day games, and 20 overs cricket is a shorter version. We have four pitches and they will be rotated for the CPL games. We have good grounds and they are ideal for the shorter form of the game.”
Springer also spoke to improvements made to the outfield, which was a concern earlier this year.
“They have been major improvements. We have been working very closely with the Kittitian Hill golf course folks. We also have been working with the St. Kitts Golf courses folks. You would realise when you go down there it looks completely different.
“The grass got a beating since last year with the Independence Concert, Carnival and the work to put the lights.”
The St. Kitts leg of the CPL runs from August 7 to 16 and will also include a CPL Super Concert with Rick Ross on the 15th.
