Sir Vivian Richards Stadium

Sir Vivian Richards Stadium

The (then incomplete) stadium in January 2007
Ground information
Location North Sound, Antigua, Antigua and Barbuda
Establishment 2006
Capacity 10,000 (20,000, for 2007 World Cup)

International information
First Test 30 May – 3 Jun 2008: West Indies v Australia
Last Test 13 Feb 2009 (match abandoned on first day): West Indies v England
First ODI 27 March 2007: West Indies v Australia
Last ODI 24 May 2010: West Indies v South Africa
As of 29 May 2010
Source: CricketArchive

Sir Vivian Richards Stadium is a stadium in North Sound, Antigua, Antigua and Barbuda. It was built for use in the 2007 Cricket World Cup where it hosted Super 8 matches. The stadium usually caters for 10,000 people, but temporary seating doubled its capacity for the 2007 Cricket World Cup. The stadium is named after former West Indies cricket team captain Viv Richards.

The stadium is about 10–20 minutes drive from the capital city, St. John's, and the country's international airport, (VC Bird International Airport). The venue cost approximately US$60 million to build, with the majority of the funds coming from a Chinese Government grant.[1] The first Test match staged on the ground was on May 30 2008 when the West Indies hosted Australia, with the match ending in a draw.

The stadium constitutes two main stands; the Northern Stand and the five story South stand. In 2008, the roof of the South Stand was damaged by high winds.[2] Other facilities include a practice pitch for the various cricket teams, a new beach (possibly a combination of unexploited coastal sand cove supported by artificial work) dubbed "Beach 366" (the island has a total of 365 natural beaches some of which were damaged during several passages of severe hurricanes in 1995, 1998 and 2000), training infrastructure and a media centre. Sir Viv Richards Stadium is one of the few state-of-the-art venues that encompass underground passageways for the cricket teams to move about.[3][4]

Contents

Outfield controversy

The ground's second Test match began against England on February 13, 2009. However, the match was abandoned after only ten balls due to the outfield's dangerous condition. The groundstaff had applied an extra layer of sand after recent flooding, which resulted in the bowlers being unable to gain a foothold when running in to bowl. [5] The sandy nature of the outfield earnt the ground the nickname of 'Antigua's 366th beach' in the buildup to the game.[6] The aftermath of this abandonment caused great embarrassment for West Indies cricket, resulting in two inquests to be held by WICB and the ICC. The outcome of the ICC inquest resulted in the ground being suspended from staging all international matches for twelve months and an official warning was issued to the WICB.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Pitch Report – Sir Vivian Richards Stadium". http://www.cricket365.com/story/0,18305,6575_4915489,00.html. Retrieved 2009-02-14. 
  2. ^ "Stolen goods, missing ladies and a flying roof". http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/370525.html. Retrieved 2009-02-14. 
  3. ^ "Sir Vivian Richards Stadium". http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/westindies/content/ground/208543.html. Retrieved 2009-02-14. 
  4. ^ Indian Times. "Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua". The Times Of India. http://worldcup.indiatimes.com/Tournament_Home/Venues/Sir_Vivian_Richards_Stadium_Antigua/articleshow/1669950.cms. Retrieved 2008-02-14. 
  5. ^ "Antigua Test in turmoil". skysports.com. 13 February 2009. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12123_4920462,00.html. Retrieved 13 February 2009. 
  6. ^ "Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua". http://thatscricket.oneindia.in/news/2007/02/27/2702sir-vivian-richards-stadium-antigua.html. Retrieved 2009-02-14. 

External links