A large ICC delegation after inspecting the World Cup-2011 preparations in the city on Thursday expressed satisfaction over the readiness to host four matches in Feb-Mar next year.
Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), on behalf of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), will host four games including an India-England match on Feb 27.
CAB’s joint secretary Biswarup Dey after the meeting the 27-member ICC delegation, headed by pitch consultant Andy Aitkinson said the “ICC is happy with the progress of work at Eden Gardens.”
The ICC team visited the Eden Gardens, the venue of all the matches in the city, Jadavpur University campus, a venue of practice at Salt Lake, and talked to city police commissioner Gautam Mohan Chakraborty at Lalbazar to discuss the security measures.
The ICC members, comprising specialists of different wings, on their last leg of India visit before flying to Dhaka, Bangladesh on Friday, spent almost whole day to scrutinise whatever they thought important to ensure safe stay of the players during the games.
Dey said the ICC team might come in middle of Jan for further details.
Eden Gardens is currently undergoing a major renovation work, which includes replacement of the galleries, a new look for the stadium and redoing of the toilets.
The renovation of the stadium and replacement of the concrete galleries with more comfortable bucket seats means that the capacity of 85,000 will be reduced to about 60,000 when complete.
The CAB is also overhauling the dressing rooms lay out, furniture, illumination, air-conditioning, the 17-year-old floodlights, the first to be installed in a cricket ground in the sub-continent.
Eden Gardens is scheduled to host four group matches –India v England on Feb 27, Ireland v South Africa on Mar 15, Ireland v Netherlands on Mar 18 and Kenya v Zimbabwe on March 20.