by PHILIP SPOONER

PLAY WILL RESUME at Kensington Oval on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. and two St Philip teams will have the honour of contesting the first match at the new spanking facility.

The Barbados Cricket Association and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the 2007 International Cricket Council's (ICC) Cricket World Cup (CWC) have organised an eight-team, knockout competition to test the facility and infrastructure at the Oval.

The opening fixture will be between Division 1 side St Catherine from Bayfield and Sunrise, the Barbados Cricket League one-day kings, who hail from near Foul Bay.

The dry-run was mandated by the International Cricket Council – owners of the World Cup – which has asked that all venues being used during the March 5 to April 28 mega-event, go through some rigorous tests of pitches, outfields and players' facilities.

The man co-ordinating the project is Courtney Browne, cricket operations manager for this island's LOC.

The former Barbados captain and West Indies wicket-keeper said the matches were a key component of the timelines established by the ICC and CWC central office in Jamaica.

"We have put together an invitational club competition to test the pitches, outfields and other facilities here at Kensington to ensure that we are on the right path moving ahead," he told DAILY NATION last weekend.

"We will have a series of matches and then a final on October 26. With the pitch, we have to start tests, so in that way we would know the standard we have at the moment and from there we can gauge what work needs to be done to get the standard we are looking to obtain.

"Kensington Oval will be staging the final of the World Cup and we are all aware that that will be the biggest match of the tournament. Failure is not an option. We have to be on the ball."

The ground will also stage Super 8 matches (second round) in the World Cup from April 11 to 21.

Browne added that a limited number of spectators, about 200, would be allowed into the venue during the testing tournament, and would be situated on the eastern side.

"It is still a construction site so we have to be mindful of that."

The last match to be played at the Oval was the first Test between West Indies and Pakistan at the end of May 2005. The major work on the ground will be finished by year-end. After that the overlay (temporary facilities) will start and is expected to finish in February.

Kensington Oval is being redeveloped at a cost of $135 million. It will double in capacity to 28 000 seats.

MATCHES AT OVAL:

Fixtures in the Barbados Cricket Association/World Cup Barbados Kensington Oval pitch and field test tournament. All matches 50-overs per team and start at 9:30 a.m.

Wednesday, October 11: Sunrise vs St Catherine (Match 1)

Thursday, October 12: Pickwick vs Empire (Match 2)

Monday, October 16: Carlton vs UWI (Match 3)

Tuesday, October 17: Combermere vs YMPC (Match 4)

Semifinals

Thursday, October 19: Winner Match 1 vs Winner 3

Friday, October 20: Winner Match 2 vs Winner Match 4

Play-offs

Tuesday, October 24: Semifinals losers

Thursday, October 26: FINAL

philipspooner@nationnews.com