Development of World Cup venues on track - Shetty

The tournament director of the 2011 World Cup, Ratnakar Shetty, has said that the development of the stadiums was on schedule and that the governments of the host countries - India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh - were working together to ensure an "incident free" competition.

Several venues in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are being redeveloped or constructed from scratch and Shetty was confident they would be ready before the December 31 deadline.

"We are monitoring the development of all the World Cup venues, particularly the re-development of stadiums. The events are properly chartered and time is of the essence for us," Shetty said. "The World Cup has been previously held in the subcontinent in 1987 and 1996, and our aim is to deliver a World Cup remembered as a memorable event for spectators to enjoy and the teams that are participating to be at full strength."

In February, the ICC had written to the BCCI expressing concerns over facilities at Bangalore's Chinnaswamy Stadium. Andy Atkinson, the ICC pitch consultant, reportedly suggested several changes that need to be undertaken ahead of the tournament. In June, the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo was deemed to be behind schedule by an ICC delegation in terms of readiness of the pitch, but progress at the two new venues in Pallekele and Hambantota was assessed to be on track.

Shetty also said that the hosts were working towards improving the security for the event. "Each of the countries now has full-time security advisors and they are preparing the national security plans as well as the tournament security plans. The three governments are working out to ensure that this will be an incident free 2011 World Cup."

Shetty was in Colombo for the naming of the 2011 World Cup's mascot - a baby elephant called 'Stumpy'. The ICC had conducted an online competition inviting the public to suggest a name for the mascot.