Garden of Eden fit for cricket, ICC confirms

Eden Gardens, Kolkata, India

The Indian World Cup venues that had supposedly fallen short of requirements to host matches in the forthcoming tournament have been given the all-clear by ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat.

Kolkata’s Eden Gardens Stadium, which had been scheduled to hold a match between England and India on February 27th, and Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium have been confirmed suitable to host all their matches, but the fixture between England and India will still take place in its changed venue in Bangalore.

“Those venues [Eden Gardens and Wankhede] have all been squared off. They're ready,” Lorgat told The Guardian. “There isn't an issue about readiness of stadiums.”

Problems surrounding World Cup venues surfaced on January 27th when three Sri Lankan stadiums in Colombo, Hambantota and Kandy were deemed unsuitable to host a three-match warm-up series between Sri Lanka and West Indies.

Lorgat then released a statement on January 28th that Eden Gardens had “not made sufficient progress to justify the level of confidence required to confirm that the venue would be ready in good time”, which had left the England v India fixture, as well as matches between Ireland and South Africa, Ireland and Netherlands, and Kenya and Zimbabwe, without a pitch to play on.

Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium then had to postpone its warm-up matches on February 2nd due to further incomplete building work.

The revelations added to growing concerns over the legitimacy of sporting venues in this part of Asia. Deteriorating or incomplete facilities in the build up to last year’s Commonwealth games in India were well documented.

However, an ICC inspection did find that the three Sri Lankan venues would be ready to host World Cup cricket this month, and the stadiums in Mumbai and Kolkata have now been given the all-clear.

Lyall Thomas - Follow me on Twitter

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