CRICKET WEST INDIES

The members of the six Limacol Caribbean Premier League (LCPL) venue teams assembled in Trinidad and Tobago last week to officially meet their colleagues and venue counterparts, compare notes, provide professional support to one another and fine tune details of the inaugural tournament.
 
Event Operations, Logistics, Media and Accreditation, Security and Cricket Operations Officers, along with Volunteer and Ticketing Coordinators from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago participated in an integration workshop put on by the Limacol CPL Event Management team. Items on the agenda included an orientation and overview of CPL; roles and responsibilities; the reporting structures and guidelines; ticketing overview; match day checklists/run sheet; branding; security/emergency planning; anti- corruption; entertainment; medical/anti-doping; cricket operations on match and non-match days; accreditation; and volunteers. 
 
“We felt it was important to bring all of the Limacol CPL venue staff together not only to make sure that everyone understands his/her individual role and responsibilities in the CPL organisational structure but also how all of the other venue team members fit into the hierarchy and will work together toward a successful event,” explained Limacol CPL Event Director Laurie-Ann Holding. “We need an integrated effort in order to execute this tournament, and our time together with the venue teams proved very valuable. There is a lot of cricket expertise and experience in these groups and we learned a lot from each other in the sessions that will help everyone carry out their duties effectively.”
 
In breakout sessions teams discussed challenges that their venues face; brainstormed ways to manage potential crises that could arise; and created action plans for the weeks leading up to the tournament. 
 
“I thought the workshop was enlightening and useful, and it brought home the magnitude of this tournament, and all the elements that have to be in place to host a professional, international sports event,” said Niki Borde, Event Operations Officer for the Trinidad & Tobago franchise. “In particular, I found the security aspect very interesting. It demonstrated how much events and practices that happen abroad can impact on our regional events and how we all have to think on a much broader scale to ensure those practices don't take place here.”
 
Athol Hamilton, Logistics Officer for the Jamaica franchise agreed.
 
“The workshop was very timely and helped us all gain a greater understanding of the roles of each team member,” Hamilton commented. “Personally, I am much clearer now about the massive task that we face in the coming weeks, as there is a lot to achieve in a very short time. The workshop also gave us the opportunity to meet team leaders and to identify the support structure in place to help us achieve our objectives. In addition, it provided for networking across territories and to share solutions and best practices for the challenges we will inevitably face.”
 
Hamilton says the Jamaica venue team has already started to execute its plans in anticipation of its matches on the 15th, 17th and 18th of August.

“We have a small but experienced and dynamic team in Jamaica, and I am very excited about what we will achieve here. One of the important positives coming out of the workshop for us in Jamaica is the ticket prices that have been set for Jamaica. They are very attractive prices and I am expecting fans to turn out in large numbers for this wonderful experience of T20 cricket at its best in a wonderful party atmosphere.”
 
Borde is just as confident about her team’s ability to get the job done, and the success of the Limacol CPL. 
 
“I think we all have very strong teams that have a lot of experience hosting international cricket games, and we will show the world how we in the Caribbean host T20 cricket. It’s going to be very exciting and full of our own Caribbean flavour!”
 
The inaugural Limacol Caribbean Premier League begins on 30 July in Barbados and concludes in Trinidad on 24 August.