Kensington Oval in pristine condition ahead of T20 World Cup

The iconic Kensington Oval is in its best condition in over a decade.

That is according to chairman of the local National Organising Committee (NOC), Noel Lynch, who today revealed that work at the ‘Mecca’ was fully completed, with the venue ready to welcome the thousands of spectators for next month’s ICC T20 World Cup.

Kensington Oval is scheduled to host nine matches in the June 1 to 29 tournament, including the semifinals and finals.

Speaking during a press conference at Cricket Legends this afternoon, Lynch said Kensington Oval was ‘World Cup ready’.

“Kensington Oval is ready. We can play cricket there tomorrow. Barbados may be the most prepared venue in this whole World Cup series. We are going to host the best World Cup cricket ever,” Lynch maintained.

“The outfield is the best it has looked in my opinion in about 15 years. The pitch is ready, the stands have all been refurbished and cleaned up, all of the bathrooms and all of the other areas around Kensington have been spruced up.

“There is a huge temporary stand facility and then there is the hospitality facility. Kensington has been ramped up to hold 18, 000 people. It is an 18, 000 seat facility that is ready to host cricket…everything is ready,” he promised.

Upgrades at Kensington Oval have been completed. (FP)

Lynch also disclosed that tickets for some of the matches at Kensington, including the June 29 final, had already sold out.

“There were some tickets that were being kept back because of ICC sponsorship and so forth, but the ones that came to Barbados and were available are gone. England versus Australia on June 8, gone,” he stated.

“Barbadians have bought tickets for the World Cup at the box office and another 4000 or so bought online.”

Additionally, Lynch revealed that a ‘Greatness’ marketing campaign would soon be launched, with national hero The Right Excellent Sir Garfield Sobers, to be used as the poster boy.

He said 14 billboards would be erected across the island portraying the likeness of Sir Gary along with several other of Barbados’ cricketing legends.

“In a couple of weeks you’re going to see the billboards that you see around Barbados changed out to display Sir Garfield Sobers. This World Cup is about greatness, that’s the sub-theme that is now being projected as the main theme of this event,” Lynch said.

“One of the things that is important in this exercise is that you can’t host a World Cup and talk about how great you are, either in terms of Barbadians creating great cricketers, the iconic Kensington Oval, without knowing whose shoulders you’re standing on and we have produced a number of cricketing greats.

“We want to use this platform to celebrate The Right Excellent Sir Garfield Sobers, but also to celebrate our icons,” he added. 

randybennett@barbadostoday.bb