National Stadium 90% ready for return of international cricket

Over the past weeks the management of the National Stadium, Providence, has been working overtime to ensure the facility is in its best possible condition come July 31 for the first of three Twenty20 Internationals between West Indies and Pakistan.

Since August 6, 2019, when West Indies played India in a T20I, the National Stadium has not hosted international cricket.

The last First-Class fixture was March 2020 between Guyana and Barbados after which the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to activities.

Assistant Manager at the National Stadium, Mahinder Ghanshim, said they have been steadfast in their preparations, which are 90% complete. He said the facility would be fully ready by the time the teams arrive in Guyana.

“In a short space of time, we did a lot of work throughout the entire stadium,” Ghanshim stated in an interview with News Room Sport.

All 300 chairs in the Presidential Box had the upholstery redone; the dressing room in the players’ pavilion, CWI office in the main pavilion, press box area and Venue Operations Centre are among the areas that got rehab works in a “short space of time.”

“Right now, our maintenance is 90% finished; we are running all the facilities as we are currently getting the replay screen up, we got the CCTV up and running, and we are doing some fine touches around the buildings,” the Assistant Manager explained.

The vast nature of the Stadium means it is difficult to maintain, according to Ghanshim, but given they have not hosted international cricket since 2019, they had to “put in a lot of work to get the facility up to this shape.”

The Assistant Manager indicated there is a continuous maintenance plan in their work programme.

Built in 2006 for the 2007 50-over World Cup, the National Stadium has a capacity of approximately 15,000.