Florida to host West Indies tournaments

It is being reported in the Caribbean that the KFC Cup, the region's premier limited-overs competition, will he held in Florida.

Trinidad & Tobago's Newsday claimed that a senior West Indies board official said the event would be staged in Fort Lauderdale where a new purpose-built stadium has recently opened. The seating capacity is 5000 but there is room for more on grass banks.

In a further bid to attract local interest Canada and USA will be invited to participate. Canada played without any real distinction in 1995-96 and 2002-03 while USA took part in 2000-01 and scored a surprise win over Barbados.

The event has been brought forward to October because if held at its usual time it would clash with the multi-million dollar Stanford match against England.

KFC's sponsorship ends this year and the new sponsors are thought to be based in Florida and will bankroll the entire venture.

"I believe Lauderhill is strategically well-placed," Faoud Bacchus, the former West Indies Test player and USA captain, who now lives in Florida, told dreamcricket.com. "We have all the facilities, hotels and attractions and it's only a short plane ride from West Indies.