Sporting facility ready for first class debut in West Indies Championship

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) — Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) President Azim Bassarath says all venues are ready for the much-anticipated resumption of the four-day West Indies Championship today, including the newest facility in Diego Martin which he said is “well-suited for first class cricket”.

Trinidad and Tobago are hosting the remaining three rounds of the competition, from May 18 to June 4, with matches at Queen’s Park Oval, Brian Lara Cricket Academy, and the Diego Martin Sporting Complex.

The Diego Martin Sporting Complex will host its initial, first class cricket match today, and will make its first class debut when home team Trinidad and Tobago Red Force play Leeward Islands Hurricanes.

“Diego Martin is a community ground and we are very happy that Cricket West Indies has granted first class status to the ground...we are looking forward to the first game being played down there and we know everything will be in place on Wednesday morning to start,” Bassarath said, according to the Trinidad and Tobago Express newspaper.

“Nothing is needed to be done to the venue. The venue is in perfect condition.”

Red Force recently played a practice game on the ground and the TTCB president said they were happy with the facility.

Captain Imran Khan confirmed satisfaction with the pitch on Monday at a virtual press conference ahead of the resumption of the championship.

“It’s a really nice facility.; the outfield is really good. We got one of the training pitches so it was a bit decent. It’s something to look forward to on Wednesday,” he said.

Bassarath said all the other venues — Queen’s Park Oval where Barbados Pride and Guyana Harpy Eagles will face each other, and Brian Lara Cricket Academy which will be the venue for the encounter between bottom-two teams, Windward Island Volcanoes and Jamaica Scorpions — are ready.

“We have three first class venues and... all in all, the players were pleased,” he said.

The TTCB boss said COVID-19 protocols will be observed at all venues and compliance officers will be on hand to ensure patrons follow sanitisation, physical distancing and mask-wearing protocols.

“We must continue to follow the protocols. It is no longer a safe-zone scenario. so people must act responsibly. We know people were starved for live sports during the last two years so we are looking for huge turnouts at the venues, and I want to give the national community the assurance that everything will be in place to accommodate everyone safely,” he said.