Seventeen officials from eight Caribbean countries and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) are in South Africa as part of a delegation organised by Windies World Cup 2007 (WWC) to observe the operations of the Cricket World Cup in South Africa and meet with key organisers.
On Wednesday the delegates, who arrived on Tuesday, met with Gerald Majola, CEO of the UCBSA, several officials of the Cricket World Cup (CWC) organisation and the Guarteng Cricket Board. They will also have workshops and meetings later on with Malcolm Speed and other representatives of the ICC, the legal consultants to CWC
2003 as well as companies such as sports management specialists IMG/TWI, and many others.
There will be a special focus on the impact of the 2003 World Cup on tourism when the delegates meet the Cape Town Tourism Association. This meeting was scheduled because of the significant tourism benefits that the Caribbean is seeking from the World Cup 2007 and the importance of this sector to most of the region’s
economies. The delegates are also touring various World Cup playing and practice facilities and will have an opportunity to visit the West Indies team during one of their practice sessions.
”We are very pleased to have so many high-level officials participating and really appreciate the willingness of the ICC and the South African organisers to facilitate us at this time,” said Chris Dehring, Managing Director (designate) of WWC 2007 who heads the delegation.
”This excellent response by Caribbean countries confirms to me that Governments and cricket associations of the region are serious about the task of matching and even surpassing the excellent work done in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya for this World Cup. ”We believe this delegation will present a unique opportunity to learn from the key players who are involved in running the only Cricket World Cup before 2007 with a view to ensuring that our infrastructure, facilities and arrangements meet the required standards and that all countries make the best bid possible,” he added. – Sapa