Eden Gardens will not host India-England World Cup match

Kolkata's Eden Gardens will not host the India-England World Cup tie slated for February 27 due toits unpreparedness, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said Thursday followingan adverse report from the venue inspection team. The inspection team comprising tournamentdirector Ratnakar Shetty, members of the Central Organising Committe (COC) and theICC reported on the readiness of five outstanding venues after visiting the facilities. The team inspected Eden Gardens Tuesday. 'The expert report, however, determined that Eden Gardens in Kolkata would not be ready within an acceptable time frame to host the India vs England ICC Cricket World Cup match on Feb 27,' the ICC said ina statement Thursday. 'Of particular concern was the fact that host venue obligations in relation to cricket operations, media, broadcast and sponsorship facilities were not finalised and/or confirmed by the venue,' it said. Unfortunately, it was India's only match at Eden Gardens which is supposed to host threeother -- South Africa vs. Ireland (March 15), the Netherlands vs. Ireland (March 18), andZimbabwe vs. Kenya (March 20).
ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat has informed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) of the decision. As the host, the BCCI will now consider an alternate venue for approval by the ICC. 'All venues had ample time to prepare for World Cup matches. Wehad been understanding and hadprovided extensions tothe deadline dates but unfortunately we are now at a point where we must carefully manage our risks,' Lorgat said. 'The COC had provided venues with a deadlineof Nov 30, 2010, to complete all construction work and then to be match-ready by December 31,2010.' 'An extension was granted by the ICC for five venues, which were again inspected over the past week. Sadly, Eden Gardens inKolkata was unable to meet the final deadlinedate of 25 January, 2011,' Lorgat said. 'Regrettably, Eden Gardens has not made sufficient progress to justify the level of confidence required toconfirm that the venuewould be ready in goodtime. This was no easy decision to take and while it is most unfortunate, it is absolutely necessary,' said Lorgat. The inspection team drew on the knowledgeand experience of some of the leading experts in the field of stadium and ground preparation and the view was that Eden Gardens would not be ready by Feb 27.

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