THE 2011 Cricket World Cup is now less than two months away.
How quickly time has passed since the Caribbean hosted cricket’s showpiece in 2007 for the first time.
As attention focuses on the upcoming tournament in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, we find it necessary to cast our minds back to our historic staging of sport’s third largest event.The jury is still out on whether it was a success. While those in officialdom will term it as an accomplishment because of record ticket sales and a host of historic achievements on the field, many of us will reflect on a range of issues.
Among them were the lack of Caribbean flavour in the stands during the early part of the tournament, fewer than expected visitors in the region as a result of the early elimination of India and Pakistan, and the debacle at the end when the final at Kensington Oval ended in darkness due to a misinterpretation of the rules.
Our main concern stems from what we were told about the legacy benefits the region would accrue after the event.In the build-up to the World Cup, many of us had reservations about the huge sums of expenditure set aside for it. The price tag for the redeveloped Kensington Oval alone was $135 million and substantial sums were spent on other infrastructure.
Everyone continues to sing the praises of Kensington. For all the sweet talk, however, we want to see tangible returns on the massive investment.
The establishment of the separate entity – Kensington Oval Management Inc. (KOMI) – to manage and market the facility was supposed to go a long way towards bringing in revenue.We are led to believe KOMI has not yielded the anticipated returns and it is interesting to note the body is in the process of trying to sell naming rights by offering companies the option of having their brand attached to the facility.
We recall that a few years ago one of those with a big role in the hosting of the World Cup at the local level said he believed Kensington would need to have activity for at least 100 days a year in order to keep the revenues coming in.
Our casual observation suggests the target has not been met. We are mindful of the existing turbulent economic climate, but sooner rather than later, something will have to give. The staging of shows like the Pic-O-de-Crop finals and Cohoblohpot has helped, but these big events are too few and far between.
Four years after the World Cup, some of us are yet to see the benefits. We are reminded that cities hosting big events like the Cricket World Cup, Olympics and Football World Cup started to see the benefits in the medium to long term.
If we are to be guided by that pronouncement, there is still hope for Barbados and the rest of the region. Only time will tell.
