Officials can learn from ODI mistakes

Editor: The West Indies cricket team did not win the ODI series, although they should have won it. However, they did not loose it either, and for that many of us are proud that the guys are playing good cricket and have the ability to beat any team in the world once they are determined to do so.{{more}}

The three one day matches in SVG were good and offered good promotion to this country. I am confident that many critics of us hosting the three one-day matches will be put to silence, and I am also confident that we will be in line for more matches soon. The crowds were outstanding in terms of attendance and support. Sports tourism is an important industry to bring revenue in this country.

However, it is worthwhile that the organizers take on board some important suggestions so as to minimize some of the problems encountered during the hosting of the matches. I am left to wonder if management was caught by surprise with the large attendance to these games, for they seem unprepared.

The sale of tickets could have been better organized. I know they were trying to be professional and ensure that it was well documented and that fake tickets were not sold. However, the length of time spent in line to purchase a ticket could have been minimized if there were several ticket booths. For example, each stand should have had its own ticketing booth; this would have cut down on the length of time spent in line and also make life easier for everyone. For when Tuesday was declared a public holiday, the crowd at the office trying to buy tickets was far too large and, of course, there were persons who took advantage of the situation and bought tickets and sold them over at a higher price.

Also, it was a poor move to open the gates at 7:30 am to allow for entrance into the park. This decision resulted in a large traffic jam since vehicles that arrived early could not enter the park and had to line up outside until it was 7:30. By then, there were hundreds of vehicles lining up, wanting to enter.

Meanwhile, at the gate, thousands of persons were lined up to go in, thus making it difficult for the security to check the persons entering, since there were too many persons entering at one time. It would have been so much better had the gates open very early as was previously the practice. This would have erased the stress that many try to avoid of entering with a large crowd. It would have also made life easier for the security officers who were doing a good job and also would have minimized the traffic jam.

After all, Vincies love cricket and also love the West Indies team. So whenever there are more matches, it is certain that people would flock to the Arnos Vale sporting complex. Thus it is important that efforts be made to make life easier for everyone to attend.

Kennard King