Stadium ready for T/20 World Cup

Apr 24, 2010 Sports

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Curator promises pitch with bounce and carry

By Sean Devers

Anthony Xavier, the General Manager of the Guyana National Stadium at Providence says the venue, which will host six first-round matches in the 20/20 World Cup cricket tournament from April 30, will be fully ready to host the world event by tomorrow.
Xavier commended the work of his entire staff and said the outfield of Guyana’s most modern cricket facility and the Region’s 10th Test venue is in tip-top condition despite the recent drought in Guyana while the head Curator Hardat Thomas promises a pitch with plenty of runs and ‘bounce and carry’ for the bowlers.
When Kaieteur Sports visited the venue yesterday the place was a hive of activity with workers putting on several finishing touches to various areas of the Stadium even as the steel structure for the massive replay screen next to the scoreboard to the East of the ground was being erected.
The entire Media Centre has been re-painted while several areas inside the facility has been give a ‘face-lift’ and re-painted for the World Cup matches and the three Warm-up games in Guyana on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Equipped with the best drainage system among the International venues in the West Indies, Providence is among the fastest drying Test grounds in the world and Xavier is confident that once there is no continuous rain on match days, games in the third 20/20 World Cup set for Guyana will not be affected.
Yesterday the outfield looked lush green and billiard-table smooth.
Now that is has ‘settled’ after it was a little on the slow side for the 2007 World Cup due to its high sand content, the ground should be lightning fast.
The Stadium had a nine-man ground staff which prepares the six pitches on the square, the outfield and the practice pitches behind the players pavilion and Thomas, who came to prominence as a ‘grounds-man’ working on the Uitvlugt pitch, feels a lot more runs than normally scored at Providence, will be made by teams over the three days of matches in the 20/20 World Cup.
“Because of the soil, the pitches here (Providence) has been slow and helped the spinners a lot but the pitches for these games will be a lot harder with more pace and bounce and batsmen should be able to play more shots although the faster bowlers will get some help,” the head Curator opined.
Surprisingly, the entire square which is usually straw colored was well grassed yesterday.
Only the two pitches being prepared were not completely covered with live green grass and judging from the texture of the surface, while the spinners should still be able to extract turn, the pacers should get more help and the batsmen able to play through the line to produce more exciting batsmanship.
It was explained by Xavier that the outfield has been regularly watered using water from Guysuco’s canal and that the drought has had no effect on the condition of the ground.
Xavier, a former Minister of Works in the Guyana Government, said that the recent rain has helped in getting especially the Mound area, which will be divided into the Party Stand and grass mound, ready for the mega event.
Thomas said that ICC pitch and field consultant Andy Atkinson visited Guyana during the ODIs between West Indies and Zimbabwe and spoke with his ground-staff resulting in what he feels is the best prepared square since the Stadium became operational in 2006.
Three of the six pitches will be used for the World Cup matches and warm-up games and both Thomas and Xavier expressed satisfaction with preparations so far.
One pitch will be used for Tuesday’s warm-up game while the same track will be used for the next day when two warm-up games, including the second one between West Indies and New Zealand, will be played.
Two pitches will be used for the three days of action in the actual tournament when six matches will be played, two each on April 30, May 3 & 4.
Xavier, whose staff comprises 9 grounds-men, three cleaners, a driver and 21-year-old Mahinder Ghanshim who is the Admin Assistant and the ‘live-wire at the Stadium’ and Xavier says that because so much was learnt from the 2007 World Cup experience, the job this time was much easier than three years ago.
“I believe that team work makes the dream work and because we are doing maintenance everyday, we had no major problems preparing for this event. Everyone has been working as a team…the Fire Service has played a big role with the testing of our hydrants and we have been testing our floodlights regularly,” Xavier informed.
The Stadium Manager said the biggest challenge was painting areas of the stadium that had not been re-painted since 2006 while he noted that the addition of two dressing rooms to complement the other two was a major accomplishment.
While the re-play screen will be removed after the Guyana leg of matches, Xavier is hoping that a deal can be worked out with the ICC to have the two ‘dug outs’ which will be used by the players just beyond the boundary during games, to be left at the Stadium.
The malfunctioning of the elevator has been a cause for concern but Xavier assured that the elevator will be fixed since someone is scheduled to arrive in Guyana on Monday with the parts needed for the repairs. Xavier conceded that the Air Condition Units, especially in the Media Centre was a problem during recent International matches but guaranteed that this problem will not reoccur.

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