The individuals responsible for preparing the pitches and fields for the upcoming ICC Men's Twenty20 (T20) World Cup are now well-equipped with the necessary tools of the trade. After a two-week series of workshops, the ground staff underwent both theoretical and practical sessions aimed at educating and re-educating them on the fundamentals of their crucial roles.
The workshop series was completed by over 100 participants. It consisted of indoor educational sessions and outdoor practical events, led by senior officials of Cricket West Indies (CWI).
Winston Reid, the Lead Curator for the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA), praised the initiative and expressed his hope that it will continue beyond the World Cup.
Reid is based at Kensington Oval in Barbados, which will host the June 29 World Cup final. He had a successful cricket career, playing over 100 matches at the regional level for Barbados. In 2005, he joined the staff at the historic venue ahead of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2007.
“The reason behind the workshop was to improve in every way we can and to do better at our jobs. We are gearing up towards the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, which will be the biggest event we have ever hosted. We will be staging the final here, at this magnificent venue, so we want to make sure everyone is fully equipped.”
Roland Holder, Manager of Cricket Operations at CWI and Head of Cricket for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, explained the rationale behind the series of workshops. He stated that CWI created the series to enhance the skills of current curators in the region by introducing them to international best practices for pitch preparation and maintenance. The series also aims to identify new talent with the right combination of theoretical knowledge and practical experience to expand the pool of curators. This will help to improve the quality of match venues and ensure a world-class event in June.
In preparation for the workshop, a CWI Curators Manual was created and will be distributed to the curators.
The ninth edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup will take place from June 1-29, with matches being held in six West Indies countries. The West Indies, which hosted the event in 2010, will hold matches at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua, Kensington Oval in Barbados, Guyana National Stadium in Guyana, Daren Sammy Cricket Ground in Saint Lucia, Arnos Vale in St Vincent, and Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad and Tobago.
This event will be the largest in the tournament's history, with 20 international teams playing 55 matches across nine locations. This will be the first time that the USA hosts matches at a T20 World Cup. Sixteen first-round matches will be split between Nassau County International Cricket Stadium (New York), Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium (Dallas), and Broward County Stadium (Lauderhill).