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Jamaica (Greenfield Stadium, Trelawny) will host the Opening Ceremony on 11 March 2007.

Teams

For details, see 2007 Cricket World Cup qualification.

The ten Test match playing countries and Kenya qualified for this World Cup automatically, and 5 further teams qualified via the 2005 ICC Trophy, thus gaining ODI status. The field of sixteen teams is the largest ever for the Cricket World Cup.

Test & ODI status

ODI status

2005 ICC Trophy qualifiers

Note: Kenya which had one day international status prior to the 2005 ICC Trophy automatically qualified.

Venues

Eight venues across the West Indies have been selected to host the World Cup final tournament. All host Countries will host six matches with the exceptions of St Lucia, Jamaica and Barbados which will each host seven matches.

The stadium capacities shown are all seated capacities.

There will be four additional venues that will host warm-up matches.

The Jamaican Government is spending over US$80.8 million for "on the pitch" expenses This includes refurbishing Sabina Park and constructing the new multi-purpose facility in Trelawny (through a soft loan from China). Another US $20 million is budgeted for 'off-the-pitch' expenses, putting the tally at more than US$100 million or some $7-billion (Jamaican).

This puts the reconstruction cost of Sabina Park at US$45.8 Million as the Trelawny Stadium will cost US$35 Million. The total amount of money being spent on stadiums is at the very least US$300.9 Million.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Caribbean leaders thrilled with opening ceremony

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders, who attended Sunday's official opening of the cricket World Cup here, say they were very pleased with the tournament's launch which highlighted the region's rich cultural heritage.

'It was fantastic, it was A-plus, it was just wonderful,' said CARICOM Secretary General Edwin Carrington.

'I feel like a little baby just born. I'm really excited,' added Grenada's Prime Minister Keith Mitchell.

The three-hour programme, which was beamed to a global television audience estimated at two billion, took the format of a cultural extravaganza that included fire blowers, drummers, stilt walkers, bamboo stick dancers and a major display of fireworks.

The event, which took place at the Trelawny Stadium, in northwestern Jamaica, also featured top Jamaican musical bands Third World, Sly and Robbie and Byron Lee and Dragonaires, as well as top regional entertainers such as David Rudder, Jimmy Cliff, Byron Lee, Machel Montano, Alison Hinds, Sean Paul and Beres Hammond.

Mitchell, who is the chairman of the CARICOM Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee in Cricket, said he was pleased with the overall standard of the presentation, adding that the Caribbean as a whole should be 'extremely proud'.

'I am proud of the way we have come together and put on this show to put the Caribbean in the face of the international community, so I am extremely proud of this,' he told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).

Host Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and her St. Vincent and the Grenadines colleague Ralph Gonsalves also hailed the event as a symbol of regional integration.

'Anywhere you go in the world, I do not believe anyone could put on a more fantastic show that what happened here at Trelawny, Jamaica, where the region came together with one powerful voice demonstrating the strength, the character, the talent, everything of the Caribbean people,' said Simpson Miller, adding that for the tournament opening, the region 'went beyond the boundary'.

Gonsalves described the event as 'magnificent' and 'beautiful'.

'It was magnificent, I was so filled with joy I almost wanted to cry; you know the talent we have, the colour, the pageantry, the way everything was brought together.

'Regionalism, the internationalism with Lucky Dube and the Irish dancers, singers and the way in which all the countries in the region got involved in the event... it was simply beautiful,' Gonsalves added.

The World Cup got under way Tuesday with hosts West Indies beating Pakistan by 54 runs at the Sabina Park in the Jamaican capital. Eight other Caribbean nations will host matches during the tournament.

International Cricket Council Chief Malcolm Speed Defends The Governing Body Against Widespread Criticism

International Cricket Council (ICC) chief Malcolm Speed defended the governing body on Sunday against widespread criticism over poor turnout, security measures and high ticket prices at the World Cup.

"We are at the halfway mark in terms of matches played, very hopeful we can finish the World Cup in the manner we would expect with some great cricket being played where every match counts one way or the other," Speed told reporters on Sunday.

The event has been criticised by local fans and media for running for 47 days, featuring as many as 51 games and six associate teams.

Many have also complained about the absence of a Caribbean flavour due to the absence of crowds and conditions - since lifted - imposed for bringing in musical instruments into the ground.

"There is a Caribbean flavour about this match," Speed said in response to the criticism, referring to champions Australia playing England in the Super Eights which he attended.

"There also needs to be a world sporting event flavour," he said.

"We moved up a step from domestic bilateral cricket here, into the area of a major world sporting event."

The event has been criticised by local fans and media for running for 47 days, featuring as many as 51 games and six associate teams.

Speed said ICC had shown flexibility by easing conditions to encourage fans to bring in musical instruments with the permission of local organisers.

He dismissed criticism of weak teams at the World Cup.

"We've been criticised for many years for including Bangladesh in the top table of world cricket," he said.

"What they've done in the last couple of weeks is they have justified their existence."

"We expect each country will know its own economy, its own pricing."

"Hopefully we will come out of this event with 11 or 12 teams who have put some substance into cricket in their country.

"After the next round it will be 13 or 14 and it will gradually move on until we have a very solid base for cricket around the world."

The seven-week World Cup culminates in the final in Barbados on April 28.