Everything is in place to welcome the teams, who will start arriving in Trinidad today for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup tournament.
That assurance was given by Douglas Camacho, chairman of the ICC T20 World Cup Local Organising Committee.
The event is being staged in the West Indies and United States, from June 1-29.
Three teams are expected to arrive at Piarco International Airport today.
T&T is one of two “Warm-up Hubs” for the tournament and will host ten teams in the official warm-up period from May 25 to 31.
The teams will use the Queen’s Park Oval, the Diego Martin Sporting Complex, UWI SPEC and the main World Cup venue, the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, during the warm-up period and Camacho is expecting a smooth execution of plans for the tournament.
“All the arrangements have been made from the time teams arrive at Piarco, right through to the time they leave Trinidad.”
“As you know, ten teams will be coming in for the warm-ups but not all of them will be playing the actual competition here. Some will warm up here and then travel to their destination for their games” Camacho explained.
The teams that will be in Trinidad for the warm-up period are Australia and West Indies, who will square off in a ticketed match at the Oval next Thursday.
The Aussies will play two warm-up matches at the Oval, the other match being against Namibia next Tuesday. However, only the clash against the Windies will be open to fans. The Windies will play only one warm-up game.
Eight warm-up matches are scheduled to be played in Trinidad with the World Cup venue, the BLCA hosting four, and warm-up/practice venue Queen’s Park Oval hosting four as well.
“All the agencies have their assignments from the Airport Authority, Customs, Police, so everyone is aware of what they have to do. We have done some dry runs with real flights that arrived and we have worked it out so we can get from the aircraft to the transport in quick time,” Camacho said of the arrival of the teams today.
Everything else is also in place for the teams including “focused security” throughout their stay in Trinidad and Camacho said that the added security measures are not unusual for international tournaments. “Moving from the airport to the accommodation is really efficient and it will be a smooth transition for the teams,” said Camacho.
“This is serious business and yes, you want the teams to enjoy the culture and the environment but it is a very streamlined process and the security for international tournaments has always been a major priority, so we have all of that very tightly controlled as well,” he noted.
“The teams will be escorted from the airport to the hotels and to practice sessions and practice games and of course for the actual games themselves. Historically, what we have done for major internationals is have security at the main venues and at accommodation venues and accompanying teams when they move around.”
“We can’t drop our guard. There will be full security whether it is a practice match, training session, or World Cup games. With the game between West Indies and Australia open to the public, you will have the additional security that will go into such a game. In the context of where the teams will be going, there will be focused security.”
The parking arrangements are also part of the security for the games, with fans not allowed to park at the World Cup venue for matches.
“For the games (at the BLCA), there will be a park and ride arrangement. So you can park at the Petrotrin compound and then you will be shuttled across to the game, or you can park in Port of Spain and take the Water Taxi down to San Fernando and then you will be shuttled from the terminal in San Fernando to the game,” Camacho outlined.
The Brian Lara Cricket Academy will host four group games and one semi-final for the World Cup. The first World Cup game in Trinidad will be between hosts West Indies and New Zealand on June 12.
The West Indies are drawn in Group C alongside New Zealand, Afghanistan, Uganda, and Papua New Guinea, but will play only one game here. Meanwhile, New Zealand will play three matches in Trinidad. They will face Uganda on June 14 and then PNG on June 17.
The other group stage game in Trinidad will see Afghanistan taking on PNG on June 13. Trinidad will also host the first semi-final on June 26.