Click here for the first, second, third, fourth and fifth
articles in this series, which explores the best grounds in USA
selected on the basis of the ground's setting, the passion that went
into creating the ground, and the pitch and outfield quality. If you
know of more grounds - private or public - please email us at
content@dreamcricket.com
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By Peter Simunovich
When the International Cricket Committee, the governing body of
world cricket, endorsed the Central Broward Regional Park in
Lauderhill, Florida, the historic occasion went by virtually unnoticed
by the United States cricket community.
When the ICC stamped its approval on the field, which is commonly
known as just Lauderhill, it sanctioned the field to hold matches
against the Test playing countries, who have full membership with the
ICC.
This is a major breakthrough for the United States Cricket
Association, which under the leadership of Don Lockerbie, the Chief
Executive Officer, has been given a new approach and facelift as the US
tries to climb up the ICC ladder from an Associates member.
Manaf Mohamed, the USACA Second Vice President and Director of
Cricket Operations, said the ICC certified Lauderhill after an
application for official status by Broward County in March last year.
Broward County owns the field.
He said that the ICC approved the field when extensions to two
locker rooms for privacy and additional comfort for players, umpires
and officials in the main pavilion had been given the go ahead.
Chad Singh, who is in charge of Special Projects with Broward
County, told DreamCricket.com in an interview that the plans have
already been approved and construction would begin soon. He said the
project would be carried in house by the county and there would be no
extra costs.
“It will be more spacious, more storage room for the players and it
will be state of the art. It will be a lot more comfortable for the
players. We want the cricketers to have a great time here when they
come,” said Singh.
The plans were inspected by Jeff Crowe, the former New Zealand Test
player, now an official with the ICC, in November last year and finally
approved by the ICC in December.
“This is means that we can hold official ICC endorsed matches,” said
Mohamed. “This is a big step for us because we can now attract the Test
playing teams. We can also use it as a home field and as a camp for the
national team.”
Mohamed said a plan to have 12 practice nets at Lauderhill also had
been approved. Part of a long range strategy is to have a media center
and press box built at the field. But he said the immediate policy was
to get international matches played there.
Lockerbie has been in discussions with several Test playing
countries after he made a trip to London during the Test match between
England and Australia at Lord’s.
The USACA board has a vision of having all its operations under one roof with Lauderhill being a strong option at the moment.
Lauderhill has three fields with the main one having four turf
wickets while the other two have an artificial pitch. The main field
has 5,000 seats, but this can be increased with 15,000 temporary seats
for a capacity crowd of 20,000.
During the season up to 10 teams from the South Florida Cricket
Alliance and the Florida South East Cricket League play at Lauderhill.
Soccer, rugby, netball and lacrosse are also played at the Lauderhill complex.
In another development, the USACA is considering moving the senior
tournament in October between New York, South East, Central East and
South West regions from Houston, Texas, to either Lauderhill or Woodley
Park in Los Angeles, California.
Mohamed said a USACA committee, which oversees national and
international matches, preferred the tournament, which is scheduled
from October 9 to 11, to be played on turf wickets rather than an
artificial pitch, which Houston has.
He said a decision would probably be reached in about a week.
Click here for past articles on this park:
Lauderhill Cricket Stadium - A White Elephant?
USA gets a cricket stadium in Lauderhill, Florida
Photos Courtesy: DeRose Consultants