Meanwhile Media and Communications Manager of the ICC, Brian Murgatroyd, and Events Manager of ICC, Chris Tetley, were also impressed with the stadium, hotels and practice pitches for the teams that will be playing matches in Guyana.

Hilaire said, “The organisation of cricket in Guyana is a dependable structure and certainly the staff that we will set up here comprising of the persons who would have aided in the organising of World Cup 2007 certainly lends a lot of confidence to the confidence of Guyana to organise and host matches in 2010.

“And like everything else, this visit has been to our satisfaction and we are satisfied with the stadium”.

He informed media operatives that there are other delegations inspecting the Everest Cricket Club, Georgetown Cricket Club and the Police Sports Club grounds as part of their fact-finding mission. Further, on Tuesday Hilaire explained that a team was deployed to some hotels in Georgetown to “ascertain the quality of accommodation and the bed stock, which you would all appreciate, is quite significant when you want to host multiple teams at the same time”.

Tetley in his remarks stated that his visit confirmed what he was expecting especially after previous visits to the Guyana National Stadium for the World Cup in 2007. He assured that the stadium, with its existing infrastructure is what the ICC wants to achieve.

“Obviously, a 20/20 World Cup with a feature of double-headers there will be some peculiarities that we need to accommodate for example, four dressing rooms instead of two, and any venue in the world will have to be reviewed with those considerations in mind”, Tetley explained.

Cost
It was revealed that the ICC has undertaken the task of covering all expenses for the event and the organisation is also prepared to pump cash into venues that may need other upgrades. The Tournament Director said that it was an internal matter concerning the cost of hosting the event.

He said unlike the previous World Cup that was held in the West Indies where new stadia had to be built around the Caribbean it would have been too expensive for the government.

He said that in 2007, to build so many stadia, the ICC had to procure the help of Governments in the Caribbean to make the event possible.

This time around, however, the ICC is in a better position to stand the overhead expenses.