Filling the Cup

In just about one week, Arnos Vale Playing Field, and by extension St Vincent and the Grenadines will enter a new era in its sporting history with the hosting of five matches in the International Cricket Council(ICC) Men’s T/20 World Cup.

The schedule shows that on June 13, Bangladesh plays the Netherlands; Friday June 14, South Africa comes up against Nepal; and Bangladesh takes on Nepal on Sunday, June 16, 2024.

These Group D matches will be followed by two qualifying matches, starting Saturday, June 22, with the first place in Group C meeting the second place in Group B, and Monday, June 24, the winner of Group C, challenging the second place in Group D.

But the five matches are just the end product of just over a year of preparations.

Contextually, the expenditure on the show piece ground, the Arnos Vale Playing Field, as well as the Sion Hill Playing and other attending facilities, should be viewed as a welcomed addition to the sporting infrastructure in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The Arnos Vale facility now has lights that augurs well for hosting sporting events at late afternoons into the night; an electronic scoreboard; new gym equipment; along with other update equipment that keep in line with modern operations.

With these, St Vincent and the Grenadines is in a better bargaining position for bringing to these shores different events as the infrastructure is in place.

Notwithstanding the fact that the hotels and other hospitality segments were required to up their game, as they fit into the scheme of things associated with the mandates of global events of that magnitude.

Therefore, the onus is on all Vincentians to play their part in ensuring that the five matches are well attended and moreso, that St Vincent and the Grenadines gives a good all-round showing.

As such, it beckons that the usual Vincentian hospitality is extended to the visiting teams, support staff, travelling spectators, and others associated with the tournament.

Whilst the group stage fixtures are not necessarily high- profile ones, it still requires us to bring our A-game as we prepare the stage for others to sample Vincentian culture.

Undoubtedly, the heritage, customs, cuisine, and traditions of St Vincent and the Grenadines should be well packaged for the promotion of cross -cultural dialogues and exchange.

When lumped, the economic growth and consequent development, infrastructure among others, would leave an indelible mark on the national pride and psyche of Vincentians, both at home and in the Diaspora.

Hence, it is projected that the June 1 to 29, tournament, hosted by six countries in the Caribbean and three cities in the USA, is set to yield over US$ 300 million in direct impact to the Caribbean.

Of course, St Vincent and the Grenadines will extract some of the projected revenue, but the key intent should be maximization.

That of optimizing the opportunities that will accrue from the more than one billion viewers who are expected be part of that global audience via the major platforms.

Hence, St Vincent and the Grenadines will be on sale and on show during the five matches, which itself is a paid advertisement in lieu of the millions invested in the bidding and subsequent improvements of the two playing fields and other synergies.

When all is said and done, the biggest beneficiary will be St Vincent and the Grenadines, as the World Cup experience should have enhanced the way we do things.

Critically, the processes involved in the hosting of the matches will leave a legacy in the expertise asset base, as new knowledge would have been learnt as St Vincent and the Grenadines moves upwards in its trajectory of national development.