ICC hails World Cup organisers

The ICC expressed happiness at the progress in building and renovation of the World Cup stadiums in the West Indies and hailed the various local organising committees in this respect.

Top ICC officials including Percy Sonn, the president, and Malcolm Speed, the chief executive, concluded their three-day visit on Friday, after inspecting the nine venues in the Caribbean which will host the big tournament next year. The officials observed that the renovation and construction at all venues is either on or ahead of schedule.

"It is great to come here and see the progress that's being made by the various local organising committees (LOC) throughout the West Indies and the progress that's being made by Cricket World Cup," Speed told reporters at a press conference at the Hilton Hotel in Jamaica. "We are very pleased with the progress that is being made (but) there is still much to be done."

Sonn, former president of the South African board, was especially pleased with the preparations. South Africa hosted the previous edition of the World Cup in 2003, and Sonn complimented the organisers for doing well despite facing more challenges than South Africa had at a similar stage.

"I think the West Indies is, relatively speaking, ahead of where South Africa was, vis-à-vis the final stages of this stage", he said. "Given that they are building new stadiums, South Africa didn't built any new stadiums, they just improved on the old stadiums."

Chris Dehring, the managing director and chief executive officer of ICC Cricket World Cup (CWC) West Indies 2007 Inc, was also pleased with the progress made by his team. "Cricket World Cup is very much on track and we are very pleased over the course of this week to make major presentations as to where we were," Dehring said. "We are now moving into a much more intense operational phase."