International Cricket Council (ICC) Twenty20 West Indies Promotions and Corporate Services officer Sabrina Panday has said that 32% of the tickets for the event have already been sold locally.
The National Stadium at Providence will play host to the opening ceremony on April 30 and two matches will feature the West Indies playing against an ICC associate qualifier and New Zealand facing Sri Lanka in the other.
Panday said that the bulk of the tickets are being sold for this day as well as on May 3 when the West Indies square off against England.
“Well so far things have been going pretty great as it is right now, Guyana as compared to the other countries is doing very well. We have 32% of our tickets sold already with persons going for the days when the West Indies team is playing,” Panday said.
Moreover, it is believed that the way things are going, tickets for the two days (April 30 and May 3) might be finished by the close of the first phase of ticket sales.
“You see, persons are more going for the West Indies matches and the opening ceremony and so we hope we have tickets for those matches by the end of the first phase which is February 28. Also we want to push out the under-16 tickets which are free. All you have to do is purchase a normal ticket and you can have up to three under-16 tickets, it’s free really and remember its four tickets per household…”
“… apart from the opening day, no other day will be played under floodlights and it’s a double header as well because persons are asking if they need separate tickets for the double headers, no, one ticket, two matches, so we want to encourage people to go get those tickets, see the other matches as well because they will be pretty good as well,” Panday said.
Tickets are being sold from Monday to Friday at the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) office, Regent Road, Bourda from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.
Four venues will be used next year for the showpiece event with Barbados, Guyana and St Lucia staging the men’s tournament and St Kitts hosting the women’s.
The National Stadium at Providence will play host to the first round matches where Guyanese will get a chance to witness the opening of the ICC WT20 on April 30 along with all the West Indies matches.
Tickets for the stands will be sold at US$10 and grounds or grass mound as it is known are being sold at US$5 and party stands will be US$65 while children under-16 will be admitted free.
St Lucia and Barbados will host both super eight and semi-finals along with the first round sets of matches, but the Kensington Oval was named the home of the finals for the male and female championships.
Tournament Director Robert Bryan in several sections of both the local and foreign press stated that the Caribbean will deliver what he calls “the best Twenty20 World Cup ever.”
The Jamaican who also stood as the CEO of the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup in his homeland at the launch of the ticket sales encouraged West Indians to “bring noise makers, your best costumes, your brightest colours, your biggest cheers. Bring it on we say, the speed will be captivating, the energy will be contagious, the tournament will deliver the best captivating, contagious cricket.”
Promotions for the tournament will kick into high gear by the end of January when, according to Panday, a team consisting of Bryan and officials from the ICC will be in Guyana to conduct another inspection at the Guyana National Stadium and other practice facilities.
