Cricket: Cup concerns in the Carribean

New Zealand's aspiring World Cup cricketers could be told to prepare for the worst as doubts emerge over the Caribbean's ability to host the tournament.

With eight months until the first ball is due to be bowled, there is a growing realisation that the infrastructure required to host what is (depending on who you listen to) the world's third or fourth biggest sports event is far from being in place.

The principal concern at present is accommodating the influx of tourists but security implementation and the upgrading of playing facilities are also desperately behind schedule.

It is the latter that will be of particular concern to John Bracewell and his Black Caps.

Underprepared grounds and pitches are expected to be the norm rather than the exception.

A key meeting will take place in the Caribbean in September involving team managers, including New Zealand's Lindsay Crocker, International Cricket Council members and players' association representatives. Grounds and facilities will be inspected before attendees report back to their boards.

However, the Herald on Sunday understands there is already a degree of apprehension within NZC over the readiness of some of the facilities. Those concerns have yet to be passed on to the players.

NZC chief executive Martin Snedden could not be contacted as he is holidaying in Europe.

The situation in the West Indies is a highly delicate political issue for the ICC. It has South Africa on standby if a venue switch is necessary, though it is probably too late and not politically expedient for such a move to be seriously considered.

Already stories emanating from the nine sovereign states that will host the tournament indicate all is not well.

Last week, it was reported the islands' accommodation infrastructure will be unable to cope with the expected influx of 100,000 fans.

"We don't expect to satisfy the entire demand. It is really going to be a challenge," tournament director Chris Dehring admitted.

Prohibitive costs are also keeping thousands of other potential fans away, with only the British, travelling with the benefit of a strong currency, expected to be there in force.

Security arrangements are far from complete, as indicated by this passage from an editorial in the Trinidad Express: "The leaders will also review recommendations from a committee appointed to implement security arrangements for next year's World Cup but from all appearances, those plans are far from conclusive, with time no longer on anyone's side."

Time and a cement shortage have not been kind to those charged with having the grounds ready in time. Cricinfo's Andrew Miller visited Jamaica recently and found the most storied ground in the West Indies, Sabina Park, in a state of disrepair (as evidenced by the two-and-a-half day fourth test between the West Indies and India).

The new Greenfields Stadium at Trelawny, meant to host the opening ceremony and a number of warm-up matches, is "just another building site, served by a single dirt track and presided over by a clutch of 110 Chinese labourers, in whose hands the island's entire construction project seems to have been placed", wrote Miller.

A World Cup venues status report posted on the ICC website makes for scary reading.

Two of the grounds, Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua and Providence Stadium in Guyana, are being built from scratch.

Sabina Park and Barbados' Kensington Oval are undergoing major upgrades, as is Warner Park in St Kitts and Arnos Vale in St Vincent.

New Zealand is based at Beausejour Stadium in St Lucia for pool play and that needs only a minor upgrade, as does Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad and Queen's Park in Grenada.

This has echoes of Athens pre-Olympics but that had a happy ending. The ICC will be collectively praying this one doesn't end in tears.