I think the price of tickets is far too expensive for the average islander , for who 90 dollars is a week or even a month's wages. The organisers have a problem with empty or half empty stadia . Should they give out tickets to children or locals at reduced prices, or should everyone pay the same price? Certainly certain locations seem more popular with tourists.
I think the security was and is high, the Bob Woolmer murder can't be used as an example of lax security.
I think the stadiums have been well constructed and designed, and delivered mainly on time. The old stadia were worn out and needed this investment. The Carabean could be considered as a developing region despite the 5 star hotels .Tourism is the big money earner, as is agriculture.
This from encarta

The economy of the West Indies depends largely on agriculture and tourism. A few islands have mineral deposits, and many of the island nations have tried to encourage manufacturing with varying success. Per capita income varies from island to island. By 2003 The Bahamas had the highest annual per capita income in the region, $16,730, largely a result of tourism, which attracted 1.6 million visitors in 2004. In Puerto Rico per capita income was $17,680; in Barbados, $10,400; and in Trinidad and Tobago, $9,640. Haiti has the region’s lowest per capita income, $420 annually. Until the 1950s most West Indian islands depended almost wholly on agriculture. During the last half of the 20th century, improved health care, rising birth rates, and increased longevity led to a population increase that agriculture could not support. Few Caribbean countries have an adequate land area to support their current populations. Cuba, with a large percentage of flat, agriculturally rich land, is an exception.

It became apparent that islanders had to develop other sources of income. A few islands possess some mineral wealth. In Trinidad, petroleum and asphalt resources formed the backbone of the island’s economy until the early 1980s, when production of both began a steady decline. Oil refining is still important on Curaçao and Aruba. Jamaica is among the world's leading producers of bauxite, an aluminum ore. The nation currently refines about half of its bauxite for the aluminum market. Cuba exploits nickel, chrome, and cobalt. Mining has stimulated mineral processing industries on a few islands.

Many islands have tried to encourage manufacturing by giving temporary income-tax exemptions to certain industries and by permitting tax-free imports of manufacturing machinery and certain raw materials. Articles for domestic consumption—such as food products, furniture, cement, glass, textiles, and soap—are manufactured in the Dominican Republic, Trinidad, Jamaica, Guadeloupe, and other islands. Some islands have industrial specializations that contribute significantly to the local economy. In Puerto Rico the specialization is pharmaceuticals, and in Aruba it is petroleum refining. In Trinidad and Tobago, petroleum products and refining are important. The principal industry in the Dominican Republic and Haiti is clothing assembly.

Puerto Rico is the most industrialized of the islands. Its industrialization is closely linked to its status as a U.S. commonwealth territory. The Puerto Rican government implemented a sweeping program to promote industrialization beginning in the early 1950s. Known as Operation Bootstrap, this program provided a range of generous incentives to U.S. firms to locate on the island. These included tax breaks, the training of workers at government expense, and low-interest loans for machinery. The program contributed to an impressive transformation of the island’s agrarian economy, and over 1,000 manufacturing plants opened from the early 1950s to 1965. The U.S. government provided additional tax reductions on corporate profits that helped underwrite the program’s success. Today, Puerto Rico boasts a modern industrial sector consisting of light and heavy manufacturing.

During the early 1980s the United States enacted the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA), a broad package of legislation designed to promote industrialization and economic diversification in Caribbean countries. The package provided tax incentives to U.S. investors and preferential trade terms for Caribbean exports to the United States. Despite the legislation’s positive rhetoric, the Congress of the United States hedged on removing or significantly reducing many import duties. As a result, U.S. businesses made only modest new investments in the region. After the North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA) was implemented between the United States, Mexico, and Canada in January 1994, imports to the United States under the program declined, since many of the same products could be imported more easily and less expensively from Mexico.

Tourism has fueled economic growth in many islands since the late 1970s. A significant byproduct of the growing tourism industry has been a closer dependence on the United States, the source of most of the tourists and much of the investment in tourist facilities.

For some islands, money sent from West Indians working in foreign countries—mostly on the more prosperous West Indian islands, North America, or Britain—constitutes an important source of income. By the mid-1990s the Jamaican government estimated that the amount of money sent to the country by overseas workers was greater than that earned from tourism.




Clive Thomas' book, The Poor and the Powerless: Economic Policy and Change in the Caribbean makes an interesting read.
I certainly think Tthat the west indies deserved the worl cup and the investment was very much needed to attract more players.


Certainly all the teams that play ODI cricket should get a chance at holding it (Pakistan,India,England,New Zealand, Sri Lanka,Scotland, Ireland (that would be a party!) Australia,Holland (have they got the infrastructure?) West Indies Bangladesh, Kenya, Zimbabwe (if it's safe) . Bermuda could (or should) have held a world cup game this time.
Some countries haven't go the infrastructure (Holland, Bermuda, Canada) but this could be changed with an appropriate investment or a joint bid (Scotland, England, Ireland and Holland could do a joint bid etc)

So I think that WI was the correct choice

I still think that some of the matches have been really good (ireland v pakistan and Ireland v Zimbabwe as well as Sri lanka V South Africa) and It's warming up nicely. The organisers just need to lower ticket prices and the whole thing will take off, I'm sure.

I think it's a bit unfair and a bit hasty to judge it now. Wait until the end, and then you can. It's like me watching a horse racing event and saying 'well thats rubbish 'after the first fence cos my horse fell.

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I have a dream.... (Martin Luther King)

The Sky commentators made some interesting points during the WI/NZ game yesterday.

Mostly about ticket prices being prohibitively high, and also that you can't leave the match and then pop back, which is apparently quite a WI custom, to pop in and out from work.

The banning of horns etc is something that's led to a different atmosphere. Apprently you can apply to have a horn though! Woo hoo!

All of this can be apportioned at the ICC, rather than anythng to do with the Windies authorities themselves.

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Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annwyl i mi

True. Only last night they gave the example of a local Taxi Driver who had organised a quick but lucrative job during the match between WI & NZ - a pickup of some passengers from the airport. Of course, he planned to return to the match afterwards, which he discovered that he could not do because of the new rule.
The whole point of West Indian cricket's atmosphere is its spontaneity, which would be lost if one had to "apply" for horns and such.

There's no doubt that the Caribbean is a great destination for the Cricket World Cup. It's taken the incompetence of the ICC to ensure that it won't be a complete success. Any idiot knows that tickets need to be priced so that people can afford them and also distributed in a way that people are used to buying them. The ICC have failed on both of these crucial points.

But would you expect anything less from the ICC!

Done correctly a World Cup in the West Indies is a great idea, providing you fill the ground with the locals (in conditions they are used to) because of the atmosphere they create. IMO that is one of the things that makes the Windies a special venue. You know that something is wrong when a WI v Aus game doesnt generate a full house and the crowd was deviod of its usual atmosphere.

The ticket prices should have been lower IMO and the revenue should have been generated by TV, advertising and sponsership. As the grounds are still fairly small you arent going to generate that much more money by ramping the prices up, especially if the stadia are half empty!

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Mark.

That just about sums it up. The locals would probably even be willing to fork out a highish entry fee if it was going to be on their terms. I heard that a lot of them, having arrived, simply went home because of the long queues, draconian restrictions and the general lack of the carnival atmosphere.

Blame the LOCs not the ICC.

I really do not understand why people keep saying i am whining because Pakistan lost.. what does that have to do with poor facilities.. and bad management. We all know the ICC is incompetent they banked on tourists providing the majority of the ticket purchasing setting the prices too high, while any fool knows the atmosphere is going to be provided by the locals not the tourists. Still what about the grounds??? i do not think many of the pitches have been upto par, today Australia and Bangladesh are playing a 22 over match because of rain, what happened to reserve days??? here are a few comments from cricinfo maybe the people making these comments are also biased because their team lost

"The nets are wet and the run-ups are wet ... some of the batsmen have had throw-downs and after a major fight the bowlers have been allowed to practice on the outfield."
South Africa's coach Micky Arthur discovers first hand the state of the new Providence Stadium's facilities. An ICC spokesman said they were "98% there"


"Please, organisers, please, give a thought to the people that really matter - the spectators - and get the grounds filled up."
Mark Nicholas appeals for action as West Indies played their match with New Zealand against the empty backdrop of the Sir Vivian Ground in Antigua

http://content-pak.cricinfo.com/wool...ry/288188.html

another gem.... Pakistan is sending 2 police officers to help investigate.... this is the state of WI police force.. they need help from Pakistan... we have the most corrupt police in the world!!!

Antiga is just not ready an article by Andrew Miller
http://blogs.cricinfo.com/wc_tourdia...ready.php#more

Reserve days are there if one of the teams is not able to face 20 overs on the first day.

Rules of the tournament that would be in place regardless of where it was held.

All efforts are made to finish the game on the day it is scheduled.

You keep bringing up the issue of rain as if this is unique to the WI.

There is no such thing as WI police.

Shows how much you know.

Furthermore, if the line of inquiry of the murder of the Pakistan coach allegedly by pakistanis for something related to Pakistan cricket leads to Pakistan, they might need the help of Pakistani policemen.

lots of alleges and somethings in there.... are you suggesting Pakistan had something to do with this tragedy?

How is the murder of Bob Woolmer related to Pakistan and Pakistan cricket?

Could just have been random as you say... there is no such thing as a WI police force..

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