World Cup officials insist preparations remain on course

Cricket World Cup officials have insisted that preparations for next year's tournament remain on course, despite being forced to look at alternative venues after abandoning the Brian Lara Stadium.

The stadium in southern Trinidad was set to host warm-up matches for Ireland, Pakistan, South Africa and Canada ahead of the tournament which gets underway on March 11 but the development fell several months behind. Those fixtures will now be played elsewhere, as confirmed by Chris Dehring - the World Cup managing director.

"With less than six months to the start of the tournament, Cricket World Cup is very satisfied that the matter has been deliberated thoroughly, and a final decision for the good of the tournament has been taken," Dehring said. "It certainly validates the monitoring process which is in place and shows that CWC has the situation under control.

"The message to the cricketing world therefore, is that come what may, we are preparing to welcome fans from around the globe to a memorable event and, notwithstanding the odd bump or two, the Cricket World Cup train is building a powerful head of steam and is very much on track."

Donald Lockerbie, the CWC venue development director, credited the organisation's "stringent monitoring programme" with a thorough assessment.

"Earlier this year, other stadia (Sabina Park in Jamaica and Grenada National Stadium) were considerably behind in their construction schedules but, under careful monitoring, they are now on track," he said. "Through ongoing monitoring and open communication channels there is full buy-in from all stakeholders involved with the tournament and 100 percent awareness that we must deliver a world-class event."