 Cricut West Indies started off this Friday by announcing the fixtures for the upcoming ICC Cricut World Cup set for June in the Caribbean and the United States of America. 20 teams have been split into four groups with the opening fixture between the USA and Canada to be played in Dallas on the 1st of June. The winners will compete in Group C along with New Zealand, Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea and Uganda with matches set for six countries in the Caribbean. Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, there is St Lucia, Antigone, Barbuda, St Vincent and the Rendonians also hosting matches. Another marquee matchup set to be expecting a lot of attention drawn to them. The India vs Pakistan match set for New York on the 9th of June. Chief Executive Officer of Cricut West Indies, Johnny Grave joins us via Zoom to discuss these latest developments and Johnny, welcome to the Sports Max. It's always great to have you on our show and it's not on our doorstep, we are months away but I know in the organisational landscape we are on the doorstep now of hosting this event. How excited are the CWI executives for this one? Yeah, good evening, happy new year, great to be here as always. This is a really exciting moment, we probably hoped it would happen in 2023 rather than 2024 but it's great to now have the match schedule confirmed and announced and really now all of the pre-work that we've been doing in terms of setting up the tournament now really can go into fast track because we know all the matches, we know all the destinations and now it's all about doing the finer details of the planning and getting ready to what will be without shadow without the biggest sporting event that's ever come to the Caribbean before. We know that you had an oppressed release coming out of the CWI earlier on this week about some organisational changes which included some of your staff shifting to ICC duties. We know this is an ICC event but because it's being staged where Cricut West Indies has jurisdiction, can you just outline to us exactly what role the CWI officials will play here because I know it's an ICC event but can you just make a distinction as to the role that Cricut West Indies has in this championship? Yeah, so we're very much the lead host, we've signed the host agreement directly with the ICC, we are the full member that's hosting it and we'll take a lead role and rely on the United States and our partners there to manage 16 of the matches of the 55 that are coming. We've got all of the super eight stages, we've got all of the sort of the biggest games, the semi-finals and finals happening in the West Indies and yeah it's a huge tournament, I mean the budget alone is going to be in excess of a hundred million US dollars. Probably the operational staff for the event will be bigger than Cricut West Indies by the time we get into May and June so a lot and a decent number of our most experienced and senior staff will be working directly now on the event from January onwards. Now we finish that Big England tour that we had before Christmas and yeah for all of us, particularly Cricut West Indies, we retain all of the ticket and hospitality revenue so it's really important that we maximise the opportunity because we want this to be not just a cricketing legacy and success but we also want it to be a financial success for Cricut West Indies. Yeah and can you just illustrate the point you made earlier on Johnny about this being the biggest sporting event ever being staged in the Caribbean because the region did host the 2007 Cricut World Cup and the T20 World Cup in 2010 as well. Yeah look it's the biggest event in terms of the numbers of teams, there's 20 teams from across the world now coming, it's 55 matches being played, it's been played in a shorter time window than obviously 2007 but T20 Cricut has taken off so in terms of most of the stats in terms of the the monetary value of the tournament in terms of the budget in terms of the the number of eyeballs that will be watching this game it will break all records and surpass 2007 and 2010 when we hosted matches before so this this will be a huge event, billions and billions of people around the world watching it obviously the subcontinent provides a huge number of that percentage of that but again matches are going to be played in the morning and in the evening to try and balance that subcontinent audience as well as making sure that we can make as many of the matches particularly those that have been played in the West Indies accessible to our fans as well so a decent percentage of the games played at night under lights in the Caribbean. Yeah a lot of work to be done Johnny I have to ask you though have you had a conversation of course with those in charge of the pitches because pitch condition and of course ensuring that the stadium is very welcoming because there's going to be a lot of tourists you know visiting to watch this what I think is one of the biggest show on this earth because everybody looks forward to a good ICC World Cup how much work has to be done in order for us to get ready for June and ensure that we make an impact and leave that sort of legacy that I'm sure you and your administration would want. Yeah look I think when we hosted the Women's World T20 2018 we got the balance right in terms of being able to as much as possible or as much as we would want to comply with the ICC regulations of such a big global event obviously the security threat everything is amplified but what's really important is we still allow our fans in the Caribbean to attend matches and watch cricket in the way they want to watch and I think by all accounts and obviously I wasn't here in 2007 I don't think the balance was necessarily struck between local fans and how West Indians want to watch their cricket and how ICC tournaments had been run historically so we expect fans to be able to come into the grounds to bring the the music the drums and everything that they would want in terms of watching the game to create that unique Caribbean carnival atmosphere in our stadiums but also make sure that we comply with as much as possible with those slightly restrictive ICC regulations that they've had in the past so I think that's the first thing that we need we need to get right but as you say T20 cricket is the most exciting format of the game it's the game that's growing rapidly and obviously with 16 matches being played in the US eight of those being played in that New York tri-state you know we're really trying to make a statement in the US and to build up to the announcement that was made at the back end of the year with the um the Los Angeles Olympics happening in 2028 so um yeah there's lots to look forward to it's a hugely exciting time and you're right Mariah we've we're trying to schedule at the moment the West Indies Championship between February and and Easter and despite having lots of venues and the choice that we have is actually now pretty limited because so much work is going to happen across those T20 World Cups we're talking about pitches being relayed we're talking about squares being expanded practice facilities being massively improved and and that's a really exciting legacy for us because for us we with now so many teams from the academies the under 19s the women and the men we we need and have a much greater demand on facilities and it's an area which we think will be one of the biggest legacies for cricket west indies and for the sport in the region will be much improved playing surfaces but also significantly enhanced and expanded practice facilities right and I don't envy you at all because while working on the logistics you still have the title CEO of cricket west indies which means you know you're still under pressure when it comes to the team performing so how do you feel about the group that west indies is drawn in well I don't think there's such a thing as an easy group and certainly when T20 cricket we know now with with 20 teams there are probably this will probably be the biggest ICC event in terms of numbers of upsets as well we've seen that and been on the wrong end of it in the past but yeah look I think obviously we're coming off the back of improved T20 formances we we beat South Africa last year we beat India last year we beat England last year so hopefully under the leadership of Darren Sammy and Robman power we've got some momentum and confidence playing at home in front of our home fans will be I think a massive boost to the team and yeah look we're going to be confident we're we're not just looking to host this event we are looking to win it we want to win that third title and yeah it's an exciting time but you're right we've got our under 19 women's team who are 12 months out now from their world carp arrived in Antigua yesterday our under 19 boys are leaving over the weekend to head out to South Africa for their World Cup campaign and the men are already in the test team for the men are already in Australia about to play their four-day warm-up game in Adelaide before the first test match so yeah there's there's no shortage of work and there's no shortage of cricket being played both here in the West Indies and and around the world with our various teams right and Johnny Barbados hosting the final that's a big big deal for Barbados do you think you know it can draw the attention and the atmosphere that you would want for a final yeah I think so look we sold out the the England game just before Christmas I was there in at Kensington for the CPL matches and and the place was packed and rocking and actually great to see you know a huge number of local fans not just from Barbados but people who have flown around the region into Barbados to support the West Indies or get behind the CPL so yeah I expect Barbados to be full of cricket fans come June and yeah I think there's no bigger occasion than the final and we know Kensington's hosted it in the past in most recent times the the under 19 finals played here in Antigua in the plate final in Trinidad and in 2018 it was played in Antigua so we know we're blessed with some fantastic venues and iconic venues here in the Caribbean and you know Kensington is right up there and a worthy host and a very popular destination for West Indians an easy place to get to but also for fans around the world an easy destination to get to with so many international flights landing on a daily basis into into the airport at Barbados yeah they did host the 2007 World Cup finals in there as well between Australia and Sri Lanka Johnny um let me ask you this though because there is a move to explode T20 cricket in the United States of America and you alluded to the fact that Los Angeles hosting the Olympics in 2028 are expected to have cricket on the on the agenda as part of the you know one of the participatory sports but how big is this ice and how apart clashing New York between Pakistan and India that that has the potential to be a tremendous event for the for the for the viewing public not only on television but the fans watching Pakistan against India the greatest rivals in international cricket yeah look I think it's it's our version of the Super Bowl to use that US language and um you know this this stadium that we're building in Eisenhower Park in NASA County in Long Island New York is is the first of its kind for cricket it's um we're probably going to make announcements over the coming weeks with more and more detail the work is about to start on the construction of the stadium and in the next few days and you know it's an unbelievably ambitious and game-changing moment to build a stadium in a park that doesn't currently as we sit here now exist the pictures have been growing in in South Florida now for a few weeks dropping technology as well used across the world particularly in Australia and New Zealand so the last T20 World Cup that was hosted in Australia in 2022 most of those pictures were dropping so the technology is there we've seen lots of US grounds convert quickly for major league socket etc so in terms of outfield preparation we're confident that that can work but and we've seen modular stadiums being built for Formula One across the US but it's never happened before for cricket it's going to be 34 000 seats in in this stadium that's going to be solely used for the T20 World Cup in June and yeah we hope it will be a big statement for the sport in in the New York Tri-State area and and the legacy then will lead hopefully into the major league cricket tournament that will happen in July that will be expanded from the the start that they made last year in in Dallas and yeah we're all geared up really for cricket also to be back in the Olympics so hopefully it bodes well it's very ambitious but to be honest if you're going to do anything in the US you have to be bold and you have to be ambitious and and cricket needs to do that to grow the sport and the West Indies we need cricket to grow in this time zone as I said many times before we can't wait for the world of cricket to share its revenue and we'll never stop arguing and lobbying for that but at the same time we've got to be strategic and try and make a step change for the sport here in the Americas yeah and you know the India-Pakistan clash in in New York is apart from the fact that it's that inimitable rivalry between Pakistan and India these are solid teams Pakistan were runners up to England in the last T20 final and India are world number one in the format at the moment so that's going to be a big one but quickly before you go Johnny the super eights as you just mentioned the top two teams from each group in the first round will qualify for the super eights all super eight matches will be in the in the Caribbean and it's expected to be really big isn't it yeah absolutely I mean hopefully there won't be too many massive upsets but obviously from a cricket perspective and a fan perspective it's always good to see some other teams losing to some some lower ranked side you never want it to happen to your own but yeah the super eights we've actually predetermined if the top teams qualify they'll maintain that position within the super eights so if West Indies qualify or should I say when West Indies qualify for the super eights we know where they're going to play so hopefully it will be easier for the fans to to be able to pre-book the super eight stages knowing that as long as their team qualify they'll qualify in a set position and obviously if they don't qualify then whoever does qualify replaces them so the super eights is structured in a way that hopefully will allow fans to plan for the super eight stage book tickets in advance book their accommodation in advance and you're right I mean who's to say that India-Pakistan won't be a repeat and either semi-final or final but clearly obviously we're hoping that West Indies will make it all the way to Kensington and to lift the third trophy because that's been our focus since we won the bid and that's been the focus since Darren Sammy and Rodman Power were appointed into those leadership positions and certainly it's one that we're all hoping will happen come June the 29th. Yeah well thanks Johnny for talking to us we'll be in touch I'm sure in the coming months and you know there's a buzz that you get no matter how big the event is when the fixtures actually come out you start to feel the event a little bit a little bit more but thanks Johnny and take care have a good weekend and we'll talk again soon I'm sure thanks so much take care yeah let's go to break now we'll be back with more on the sports night zone after this