Three bid for right to host regional tournament

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Antigua, Barbados, and Trinidad have submitted bids to host the Caribbean Twenty20 Championships of 2011 and 2012.

The West Indies Cricket Board announced yesterday that the three venues will now be assessed by its Bid Review Committee headed by director Gregory Shillingford, the president of the Leeward Islands Cricket Association, and former chief executive officer.

“It is a new model inviting territories to host matches in regional tournaments, and appropriately it starts with the most exciting of the tournaments – Caribbean T20 which proved to be successful in its launch in 2010,” said Shillingford in a WICB media release.

“The territories, which have submitted bids and confident of meeting the criteria, will be held to meeting standards, and WICB will be held to meeting obligations in terms of both cost and benefits.”

The Bid Review Committee will have this weekend to consider seven key criteria in choosing the venues before the WICB makes the official announcement Monday coming.

The WICB noted the committee would have to consider contributions of the host to the event, cost of hosting matches, potential revenue opportunities, strength of the commitment to host, record of honouring commitments, the quality of event management during previous WICB tournaments, and venue readiness.

The regional governing body also requires venues to have international standard lighting, and at least one giant replay screen, so they can to favourably considered for hosting the CT20, which will be a televised “live” event.

The other members of the Bid Review Committee are WICB director Enoch Lewis, the chairman of the WICB’s Finance Committee, Steve Camacho, the WICB corporate secretary, Nelecia Yeates, the WICB commercial manager, and new WICB Event Manager Cindy McLean.

Next year’s CT20 will be held from January 9 to 24.