ICC Cricket World Cup 2011
Countdown botched up
The few thousand fans that turned up at midnight on Wednesday at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban to mark the 100-day countdown for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 was evidence of the increased enthusiasm amongst the public about hosting an event of such magnitude.
But the passion of the locals threatened to fall flat, as there were a number of red flags that were raised about the management of the small but ultimately crucial event. The careless organising raised questions about the competence of the authorities concerned and many were apprehensive that a bigger test might expose even greater weaknesses come February 17 when Bangladesh stages the opening ceremony of the 10th World Cup.
The biggest question on Wednesday night was with the countdown clock itself. It malfunctioned on a number of occasions and did not display the timing clearly. This put off a number of the watching fans and although the fireworks were ultimately released on time, the event registered unpleasantly among the locals.
Also worrying was the lack of seating arrangements for dignitaries and special invitees.
Ex-national captain Habibul Bashar was spotted standing behind the seating area with the journalists while numerous friends and family of influential people occupied the few available seats. The lack of proper coordination with the seating also upset a number of current national players who attended at the event.
There were also concerns raised about the security, which has emerged as a critical issue, as many fans breached the perimeter to enter into the VIP area. Although they were controlled for the most part, it raised questions about how a breach like that would be controlled at the World Cup proper.
A police officer at the venue, on condition of anonymity, said that the event was uncoordinated and mismanaged.
“The event is a total mismanagement. No one contacted us beforehand from the BCB (Bangladesh Cricket Board) side and even today the PS to the BCB President was seemingly unaware of the event that would take place at night,” he said.
But what left a sour taste in the mouth of the watching thousands was the lack of a proper dress code maintained by both the convener of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC), Dewan Shafiul Arefin and the Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza.
Both men turned up for what a formal event, dressed casually and gave off a distinctly unprofessional impression. While their appearance might not have stood out on other occasions, on Wednesday night, both men looked very out of place beside Indian representative Sourav Ganguly and the ICC’s Campbell Jamieson who were both attired in suits.
While many were quick to point out that Mashrafe might not have been informed of his need to be on stage, it does not excuse his appearance as the face of the nation since he is the national captain of one of the co-hosts. Either way it represents a failure on the part of the organization or Mashrafe himself.
The presenter of the event also looked a fish out of water and seemed to have hardly had done her homework for such important occasion.
The rank mismanagement of their first important event added fuel to the whispers about the capacity of the members of the LOC to properly organize the tasks related to the World Cup.
With the biggest sporting extravaganza the country will host closer on the horizon, the members of the LOC need to pick up the slack soon or risk an embarrassing portrayal of the country’s professionalism with the whole world watching.
