The Independent Voice of West Indies Cricket
by TONY COZIER
(The following is an address by cricket writer/broadcaster Tony Cozier at the Sticky Wicket Hall of Fame induction ceremony held in Antigua last weekend).
The Governor General, Sir James Carlisle, Sir Allen Stanford, Lady Muriel Walcott, Hall of Fame inductee Rev.Wes Hall, Legends, distinguished ladies and gentlemen.
Let me say from the outset, how flattered and, at the same time, overawed I was to be invited to give the keynote address at such an occasion, before such an eminent audience - especially knowing that I would be sandwiched in between Rev.Wes Hall, one of the Caribbean’s most eloquent orators, and David Rudder and Sean Paul, two orators of a different, musical kind, both as internationally renowned as the one they used to call “Pace Like Fire”...
commentary by VANEISA BAKSH
Caricom Governments invested upward of US$ 500 million to host the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 – stadia alone accounted for just over US$ 300 million – a figure said to be more than the entire cost of CWC 2003 to hosts, South Africa. Such an investment was based on projected returns that were highly optimistic, if not reckless, according to one Caribbean economist.
Responding to warnings from the International Monetary Fund that the net effect of the CWC could be negative, Jwala Rambarran, a former adviser to the IMF's executive director, criticized regional governments for accepting glowing projections from one CWC consultant without seeking second opinions.
