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From the Press Box by Sa'adi thawfeeq

Hosting the 2007 cricket World Cup is not going to be an easy task especially in the Caribbean. Arnos Vale sports grounds at Kingstown, St. Vincent which hosted the third one-day international between Sri Lanka and the West Indies and, the three-day fixture between Sri Lanka and the West Indies Board President's XI has a long way to go before it can be classified as a truly international venue.

Six years ago when Sri Lanka last toured the West Indies, it was baptised as a new Test venue, but since then nothing has been done to improve its infrastructure, although there has been so much talk going around on how fast their outfield dries out when it rains.

What the Sri Lankans found out to their dismay was that there were no proper practice facilities for the players who are not engaged in a match. Sri Lanka's interim coach Duleep Mendis got so frustrated that he had to give up when his pleas for a practice wicket only drew a blank from the Arnos Vale Sports Club officials. Eventually, the players had to practice on concrete surfaces not meant for cricket. One of the prime requirements at any international venue is practice facility and Arnos Vale falls far short of it.

The other area, which needs to be improved, is the media box. The present box can accommodate only 16 journalists which is totally insufficient for a big event like the World Cup, or for that matter even for a one-day international. One dreads to think what total chaos there would be if the media happens to be from a country like England or India where hordes of journalists cover the tour.

There is no provision at St. Vincent to provide the media with any refreshments. Not even a bottle of water. All this has to be purchased from outside the stadium. When the media men are desperately trying to file copies to meet deadlines they hardly have the time to look around for food and drinks. To add to their frustrations there is no scorer for the media and the scores have to be taken off either from the official scorers who are distanced from the media box or the television scorer. The only plus point here was that the media were given their respective telephone connections on time.

It is only in Sri Lanka that we bend over backwards in trying to provide everything for a visiting journalist. What luxury we provide visiting teams when they tour Sri Lanka. They travel around the country in air-conditioned comfort in a luxury coach. At St Vincent, the Sri Lankan team was given only a 20-seater Nissan van for their travel. These types of vans are quite common in the streets of Colombo and outstations and they are what we call private coaches. The hotel the Sri Lanka team was accommodated was nowhere near five or four star status and by 9 p.m. the kitchen was closed and no food could be ordered.

When the West Indies toured Sri Lanka in 2001, the manager of the team Ricky Skerritt made several visits ahead of the tour to ensure his team got the best hotels, food and other facilities right.

There is also the problem with cricketers' baggages not arriving at the destination on time. When this was brought to the notice of Lennox John, the president of Windward Island, he suggested that for the World Cup they could be ferried across the sea. John, a genial figure is one of the candidates coming forward as vice president of the West Indies Cricket Board when it holds its elections on July 12 and 13.

St. Vincent, which has a population of 110,000 inhabitants, is famous for its botanical gardens. Among its wide variety of tropical trees and shrubs is a breadfruit tree from the original plant brought by Captain Bligh of the Bounty fame in 1793.

The garden, which is one of the oldest in the world, was founded in 1765. How laid back this island is can be guaged by the fact that there is no daily newspapers available here, only a weekend paper which comes out every Friday.

The cricket ground is beautifully cited with the airport on one side and the sea on the other. There is always the constant sound of airplanes landing and taking off during the course of the day.

But it doesn't disrupt the cricket although there is always this morbid fear that one of them may suddenly change course and land on top of the press box.

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