JCA promises world-class experience at Sabina Park
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With the West Indies to face Sri Lanka in their ‘WI Outside’ home series, Ian Spencer, chairman of the Jamaica Cricket Association’s (JCA) Marketing Committee, has promised fans a ‘world-class experience’ at Sabina Park.
The West Indies will take on Sri Lanka in three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and three T20s in the space of 12 days next month.
The three ODIs will be played on June 3, 6, and 8 while the T20s will follow on June 11, 13, and 14.
Spencer said it will be an amazing experience for Jamaican cricket fans, who will get to see world-class cricket at home.
It will be the second time in two years that the West Indies will play at Sabina Park following Australia’s tour of the Caribbean last year.
“It's really amazing,” Spencer said. "For many years we didn't have any cricket at all. We had some fantastic series last year and now we have brought six matches, three [ODIs] and three T20s.”
Spencer said the decision to host all six matches at Sabina Park is a massive win for Jamaica and shows that Cricket West Indies (CWI) has grown to trust the island to host major games.
He said the level of fan support seen at last year’s Australia tour played a major role in Sabina Park being chosen as the host venue, with the JCA planning to build on that success.
“What this means is that Cricket West Indies is very confident and the reason we got the games was the fan support seen the last time,” Spencer explained.
“So it's our reward to ensure that Jamaicans have shown that they want cricket and they want to come to Sabina Park. The fact that we have these matches now are really a reflection of how our stature has risen within the Caribbean.”
GETTING THE PARK READY
One of the major stories ahead of last year’s Australia tour was the need for a major lighting upgrade at Sabina Park in order to host the games.
Millions were invested in the facility’s lighting and Spencer said the upgrades ensured Sabina Park is now a world-class cricket venue.
He also explained further work will be done at Sabina Park on Labour Day by stakeholders, which will complete the final touches ahead of the Sri Lanka home series.
“Monday is the National Labour Day, so the Government will be sending in the troops to help. The JDF will be there and a whole lot of stakeholders,” Spencer explained.
“We're getting the park ready. The lighting is now world class and as you can see, we're able to attract the night matches,” he continued.
“A lot of the issues that we were having before have now been corrected so you have Sabina Park, which is now a world-class venue and the whole idea is that we're ready to deliver a world-class product.”
It will be the second time that Sri Lanka will play at Sabina Park after their first ODIs series in 2013, and it will be their first-ever T20s series against West Indies in Kingston.