April 23, 2006	Sunday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 24, 1427

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KINGSTON, April 22: World Cup chiefs insisted on Friday that all nine venues will be ready for the 2007 cricket showpiece despite constant speculation that some sites are struggling to make completion deadlines.

Chris Dehring, the chief executive of West Indies organising committee, said that the grounds are all focussed on making their October finish dates.

“Its full steam ahead across the region, everyone is moving forward as planned,” said Dehring.

“Of course we have a back-up plan in place and it is currently being reviewed by the International Cricket Council (ICC). That plan will only be implemented if absolutely necessary.

“At present, there is no one country that is being earmarked to take matches currently assigned to another host venue.

“If a decision were to be taken to relocate matches from one venue to another, it could only be taken by Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007 Inc. This is not a decision that can be made by anyone outside of CWC.”

Last week, the company carrying out renovations at Jamaica's Sabina Park admitted they were behind schedule after facing a cement shortage.

The famous ground will host seven World Cup games, including the tournament opener and a semifinal.

There have also been reports that the Guyana venue is also struggling to stay on schedule.

A number of countries in the Caribbean have already indicated they are on standby and willing to take on matches should other venues not be ready.

But Dehring said that while “this spirit of cooperation” was “critical to the overall success of the tournament, at this time every country is expected to meet its obligation to host matches”.

“Each host venue is working not only on the completion of their stadia but on all the other infrastructural elements required to support the hosting of the tournament,” he added.

Organisers said on Friday that Warner Park in St Kitts is on the verge of completion while in Antigua, the most recent phase of the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium has just been completed – 22 days ahead of schedule.

Some reports have said Sabina Park in Jamaica as well as others in Grenada, Trinidad and Guyana will not be ready.

The opening ceremony for the World Cup is scheduled for March 11, with the tournament set for March 13-April 28.

Dehring said no replacement venues have been designated for matches already scheduled for another ground.

He noted that if a decision was to be taken to relocate matches from one venue to another, it could only be taken by the CWC.“This is not a decision that can be made by anyone outside of CWC,” he said.

Earlier this month, a Jamaican cricket official said the US$29 million (euro24 million) renovations to Sabina Park were three months behind schedule.

Eight grounds will stage matches in the tournament, with an additional three slated for ceremonial use or warmup games.

WCC venue development director Don Lockerbie said senior assessors from the ICC will assess the venues the first week of May.

The tour will start on May 1 at Trelawney, Jamaica, followed by Sabina Park the following day and be followed with visits to Sir Viv Richards Stadium in Antigua; Arnos Vale, St Vincent; Beausejour, St Lucia; Queen's Park Oval and Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad; St Kitts; and Grenada.

The tour will end in Barbados on May 9, followed by meetings May 11-13 of senior ICC officials.

“The issue we are all facing is trying to get our stadiums done by the dates we have allocated which is the end of October,” Lockerbie said on Thursday. ''The ICC's major tour will be taking place at the end of November, and by that time we need to be spot on.

“Now, here we are with the May venue tour coming up, so certainly the ICC will have their own opinion as to where we are and how we can get to where we want to be.”—Agencies