Adrian Frater, News Editor

Former West Indies fast bowler and International Cricket Council pitch consultant, Andy Roberts (third from left), rolls back the clock at the new Trelawny stadium, yesterday, as he tested the newly laid pitch with a few off-spinners. - Photo by Adrian Frater

Western Bureau:

The new Trelawny stadium, which will host the opening ceremony for the 2007 International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup, is expected to be completed in a matter of weeks.

COMPLANT, the Chinese construction company which is building the multimillion-dollar facility, yesterday handed over the playing surface and cricket pitches to the Local Organising Committee (LOC).

"The outfield and pitches are now ready so we have decided to hand them over to the LOC today," said Kevin Chen, the project manager for COMPLANT. "The LOC will now take over the maintenance and final preparations to host games."

Insofar as the other areas of the facility are concerned, the LOC's Venue Development Manager, Christopher Smith, said the stadium was on target to be completed by mid-October, over a month ahead of the November 30 completion date.

"The permanent seating is 100 per cent completed and the roofing is about 98 per cent ready," said Mr. Smith. "Having seen where we are at in terms of readiness, the ICC officials who have visited are very pleased with our state of readiness."

Outside of a possible interruption should a hurricane affect Jamaica within the next month, Mr. Smith said he was not anticipating any problems or delays.

"A hurricane could affect the external work we are doing but other than that, it should be smooth sailing," said Mr. Smith.

The venue development manager, on Wednesday, said progress at Sabina Park, which will host a number of group matches and one semi-final, was continuing smoothly, and the ground had received a high approval rating from an ICC assessment team.

"The ICC was here in May and they were very nervous and we did report that to the country. They are now pleased with the progress that Ashtrom Building Systems has made since," Mr. Smith revealed.

Satisfaction

Former West Indies fast bowler, Andy Roberts, who was recently installed as an ICC pitch consultant, said the outfield at the Trelawny stadium was by far the best he had seen in his travels inspecting facilities across the Caribbean.

"The pitch needs some hard rolling to become a little more compact, but it is looking quite good," said Roberts. "I think international cricket could be played here within a month."