Kensington ‘on track’…Gaskin touts timely completion of Kensington Oval upgrade for T20 World Cup

The upgrades at Kensington Oval will not only be completed in time for the ICC T20 World Cup but will also enhance the fan experience at the renowned cricket facility, according to the chairman of its management group, Damien Gaskin.

Members of the media were given a tour of the‘Mecca on Friday, where they were shown the works that have so far been completed, which include some of the VIP suites, and washroom facilities, as Gaskin pointed to some key areas of development, like new lights, display screens, and an electronic scoreboard.

In October last year, Barbados signed a $50 million ( US$25 million) loan with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to upgrade and maintain the iconic Kensington Oval. The loan was provided under Afreximbank’s Sports Financing Programme. Prime Minister Mia Mottley signed the deal on the final day of the AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF23) at the Marriott Hotel in Georgetown, Guyana.

“We are bringing in a temporary grandstand and the temporary hospitality structure. That hospitality structure will go between the media centre and the scoreboard,” Gaskin said, touching on the enhancing of the stadium’s capacity.

He added: “Back in 2007, we had one long temporary grandstand, but we didn’t have the scoreboard in place at the time, but we didn’t have the light towers in place at the time, so the temporary structure could span that full area.

“Now we got to change things up a little bit and we’ve done so by having a temporary hospitality structure, which should be three-level size. Other works are happening, so you’re going to see the rubber rock around the field being replaced, some fibre, what’s not going to be going in. So from an Internet Wi-Fi perspective, we plan to have Wi-Fi throughout the entire stadium. So some for broadcast, some for fans. It’s going to be controlled in such a way that those who need higher bandwidth have it.”

He said the idea behind the upgrades is also to have a lasting impression: “A lot of what we’re talking about is, yes, we’re preparing to host a World Cup that is going to be the biggest in the world to this point, 20 teams for the first time in this World Cup. But then we should have a long-lasting legacy impact due to these upgrades around the facility.”

Gaskin elaborated that the Kensington Oval update speaks to much work being done at the facility post-ICC T10 World Cup: “If you want to have a true multi-purpose facility, you should be able to have a concert at the Oval on a Saturday, and have international cricket by the Wednesday without having a negative impact on the field. So we’re bringing some field covering that will allow for such so that we increase our functionality and the utilisation of the Oval all year round.”

Barbados will host five preliminary matches where Namibia will take on Oman on June 2, England vs. Scotland on June 4, followed by the June 5 meeting between Australia and Oman.

The Oval will also host the June 6 contest between Namibia and Scotland, as well as Australia vs. England on June 8.

The three Super 8 matches will be played on June 20, 21, and 23, while the finals on June 29 will bring the curtains down on the 20-team tournament – the largest T20 World hosted by the ICC.

This marks Barbados’ third time hosting the finals of a major ICC tournament in the Caribbean, having played host to the 2007 Cricket World Cup finals and the 2010 T20 World Cup finals.
(RT)