'Helen' Of Regional Cricket

Nestled on 22 acres of land beneath the rolling Beausejour hills in the north of St Lucia, cricket's newest international stadium is taking impressive shape.

Tractors growl as they plough into the soil, Bobcats zig-zag around like Z-vans with oversized wheels, cranes drop steel beams into place and over 50 hard-hats bustle from one chore to the next.

The turtle-backed outfield has already been graded, the square readied and the stands are beginning to assume distinctive form.

There is still a lot to be done. But Claude Guilleaume, the Trinidadian architect with the contractors, Carillon Construction, is confident his company will have the finished product ready for handing over to the St Lucian government well before the two One-Day Internationals with India the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has scheduled for it in late May next year.

"We're making very good progress and we're looking at a completion date sometime in March," he says.

There needs to be a dress rehearsal prior to the internationals to put it all - the pitch, the outfield, the dressing rooms, the media facilities and all the rest - to the test. There is talk about hosting a match in the last round of the 2002 Busta International Series for that purpose.

All things being equal, Guilleaume has no qualms about meeting the deadlines.

"There's a little pressure, yes, but that's okay," he says. "At present, we're actually a little ahead of schedule."

As permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education, Human Resource Development, Youth and Sport, under whose portfolio the project falls, Ernest Hilaire is closely involved with all aspects of the scheme.

"It will comprise an international standard playing oval with all the supporting areas for players, officials, spectators and the media," he can boast.

"We've had close collaboration with officials of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and taken their advice on key areas to ensure we've got everything to their specification."

Under Cover, a Trinidadian company specialising in such things, is responsible for laying the square with soil and clay taken from various parts of the island and for grassing the outfield.

Estimated to cost EC$35 million (US$12.95 million) when finished, the stadium - yet to be officially named - is funded entirely by the government-run St Lucia National Lotteries.

It replaces Mindoo Philip Park, previously St Lucia's solitary firstclass ground.

Situated between two hills just outside of Castries, the capital, the old "Park", titled for one of St Lucia's finest players, is in a high rainfall area. With poor drainage, it repeatedly turned regional and international touring team matches into frustrating misery.

The micro-climate in the Beausejours area makes it one of the driest spots on the island, ideal for a game so heavily dependent on the weather.

Located at the southern end of the new ground, the players' pavilion has been designed to have two team dressing rooms and ancillary facilities.

There are also to be administrative offices, a central kitchen and dining hall and lounges for both members and cosseted VIPs who, even if they have a limited knowledge of the game, will be guaranteed excellent views of play from their third-tier seats.

At the opposite end, Hilaire notes, the north grandstand will house the media, print and broadcast, and 18 plush private boxes with room for up to 500.

Underneath will be an entrance concourse that converts into lighted indoor nets outside of match days, catering facilities and public conveniences.

To the west, partially covered stands will accommodate 4 200 individual seats. To the east, the grounds section is designed to take up to 5 000 on the grassed banked embankment.

And, most significantly, outdoor practice pitches, two natural turf, two artificial, are on the plans to the back of the players pavilion for use even when play is going on.

Hilaire points out that the complex, while principally for cricket, will also be available for other sports, such as football and rugby, and for seminars and training.

At the same time as Guilleaume and his men are heading towards their goal, another sports stadium to hold 8 000 and serve football and track and field is also under going up near the island-nation's second town of Vieux Fort, 40 miles to the south.

It is being built and paid for by the Chinese government at a cost of US$15 million and its completion date is set for June 2002.

The two projects mirror those of the Grenada government that completed two similar high-quality sports facilities four years ago and has since staged One-Day Internationals against Australia, Pakistan and South Africa.

The question from some quarters in both countries now, as then, is inevitable. How can such a high profile and high cost undertaking be vindicated in small nations with other more pressing needs?

Grenada has already seen returns in the annual influx of fans for the international matches and the professional cricket, football and track and field clubs attracted for out-of-season training and practice.

St Lucia can readily identify the tie-in with its flourishing tourism. Its Atlantic Racing Challenge (ARC) in yachting and Jazz Festival have become internationally recognised annual events. They're keen to add cricket to the list.

"The cricket stadium is located not far from the tourism hub of Rodney Bay," Hilaire notes. "This is by no means accidental as we've recognised the important strategic linkages that are growing between sports and tourism."

There is also the public pride that is hard to quantify and the incentive for local sportsmen provided with the advantage of worldclass resources.

Although it has placed players on West Indies representative youth and "A" team, St Lucia has never produced a Test cricketer.

Its most famous native sons have been Nobel Prize winners, economist Sir Arthur Lewis and poet Derek Walcott. Rick Wayne gained international recognition in body building back in the 1970s as Mr Universe.

But there has been no cricket star. The hope is that the new stadium will help lure the youth to the game that runs a definite second in popularity to football.

And then there is the matter of the 2007 World Cup, to be staged for the first time in the Caribbean, with its potential bonanza for tourism.

The WICB has been charged with staging the events by the International Cricket Council (ICC), a relationship much like that between host cities and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The ICC, like the IOC, sets out strict guidelines on all aspects of the event and St Lucia, and Grenada, have stolen a march on the other territories.

Established Test grounds like Kensington Oval, Sabina Park, Bourda and the Antigua Recreation Ground (ARG) will need extensive upgrading if they are to meet ICC demands.

At the moment, of the older venues, only the well-appointed Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad has onsite practice facilities, either outdoors or in, and adequate parking. St Lucia's plans include both.

In its recently released four-year development plan, the Barbados Cricket Association includes provision for construction of an entirely new stadium at a cost of US$31.8 million.

But there is opposition from those sentimentally attached to Kensington and, in any case, a start is still to be made.

There are hints of something in the pipeline in other territories but nothing more yet - and 2007 is not that far away.

For St Lucia, it can't come soon enough.