BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):
Barbadians were full of praise for the renovations that have taken place at Kensington Oval for the ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup, which opens in the Caribbean and the United States on Saturday.
The iconic ground underwent a multimillion-dollar upgrade in preparation for the World Cup, and Prime Minister Mia Mottley invited Barbadians to tour the facility during an open day this past Wednesday to view the improvements.
Damian Gaskin, chairman of Kensington Oval Management Inc., the company that manages the historic ground where the World Cup final will be staged on June 29, said he was blown away by the response from Barbadians to the guided tours around the facility.
“We did not know what to expect,” he told reporters. “The prime minister said she wanted one and all to come out, and she set a time and a range, and we prepared.
“We met over the [past] weekend to prepare for whatever crowd showed up, and we had several tour guides in place, and we had volunteers, police, security, so we were hoping to have a good turnout and from the time [we opened], there was a line outside.
“We had a little cleaning up to finish up, but we opened the gates promptly, and there were a few hundred people that came and the tours began.”
Kensington Oval will stage nine matches in all, including an epic contest between old rivals, England and Australia on June 8.
Gaskin said he expected bumper crowds for the matches in Barbados, and all systems were in place to accommodate them.
“If early indications are anything, people are excited to come and see the matches,” he said. “We feel great about the work that we have done to create an exciting atmosphere, we are happy to show it off, and we look forward to hosting the matches.”
The first match at Kensington Oval will be on Sunday when Namibia face Oman in a night-time contest.