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Complete Eden Gardens work by Jan 31: ICC
With less than a month to go before the World Cup, a three-member ICC team today carried out a through inspection of the facilities at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata for the February-March World Cup matches and asked local officials to finish installing bucket seats in two galleries by Jan 31.
With less than a month to go before the World Cup, a three-member International Cricket Council (ICC) team on Tuesday carried out a through inspection of the facilities at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata for the February-March World Cup matches and asked local officials to finish installing bucket seats in two galleries by Jan 31.
Local officials, however, claimed the delegation "appeared" to be "happy".
The visiting team, comprising ICC stadium consultant Eugene Van Vuuren, general commercial manager Campbell Jamieson and event manager Chris Tetley, spent over three hours at the Eden inspecting the preparedness ahead of the mega event, which is slated to be inaugurated in Bangladesh Feb 19.
World Cup tournament director and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief administrator Officer Ratnakar Shetty and BCCI operations in-charge Suru Nayak accompanied the delegation. They were guided by Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Jagmohan Dalmiya.
Eden Gardens is scheduled to host four matches, beginning with the high-volatage India-England game Feb 27. The other three games involve Ireland and South Africa (March 15), Ireland and Netherlands (March 18), and Kenya and Zimbabwe (March 20).
"After the inspection, it appeared to me that they were happy. It was a thorough inspection. They had gone through each and every point. They will be sending a report to the ICC," said Dalmiya.
With the height of the sight screen at the Eden being a bone of contention for long, the ICC delegates presented a design to the CAB officials.
"They have also asked us to finish the installation of bucket seats in two of the remaining blocks B and C by Jan 31. Besides, they said the debris due to the renovation would has to be cleared at the earliest," said another CAB official.
"They also objected to the location of the radio commentary room on the lower tier of the Club House. We will look into it."
Another senior level CAB source said it would take 10-15 days for work to be completed.