Brian Lara Cricket Academy

Brian Lara Cricket Academy

Location	Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago
Establishment	2008, completed in 2017
Capacity	15,000
Owner	Government of Trinidad and Tobago
Operator	Government of Trinidad and Tobago
Tenants	Trinidad and Tobago national cricket team
End names
n/a
As of July 7 2017 Source: Brian Lara Stadium, Cricinfo

The Brian Lara Cricket Academy is a multi-purpose stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago that was recently completed. It will be used mostly for cricket matches having initially been envisioned and conceptualized to host warm-up matches during the 2007 Cricket World Cup and serve as a cricket academy post the tournament. However when it became apparent that the facility would not be completed in time for the tournament the warm-up matches were instead hosted at the Frank Worrell Field at UWI St Augustine.

Built to hold 15,000 people in a mix of fixed seating and grass banks it is named for Brian Lara, who until 17 October 2008 was the all-time leading run scorer in Test cricket, when he was surpassed by Sachin Tendulkar.

The Caribbean Premier League chose the Brian Lara Cricket Academy as the host for the Playoff, eliminators and final matches of the 2017 edition of the league signalling the first high profile matches at the ground^[1].

Development of the Stadium

The Brian Lara Cricket Academy was commissioned in 2004 by the then Government of Trinidad and Tobago through the state company UDeCOTT to provide a high class sporting venue for the 2007 Cricket World Cup^[2]. With Trinidad and Tobago receiving the Brown Package of matches and the use of the Queens Park Oval as the primary venue the Brian Lara facility was earmarked to host warm-up matches. To be ready for the Cricket World Cup the facility had to be completed by February 2007 and game ready by March 2007.

Major design and construction problems kept pushing back the completion date as well as increasing the construction cost of the facility and once it became apparent it would not be ready for the World Cup matches were shifted to the grounds at UWI. The delays and costs involved with the facility has led to it being one of the more controversial infrastructure projects undertaken in Trinidad and Tobago. The initial cost (2006) of the stadium was estimated to be $257 million TT dollars however, with the cost overruns and the increase in prices of materials, this amount has increased significantly. In 2009 the estimated costs were TT$700 million and by the time the facility was eventually opened in 2017 the costs had crossed the TT$1billion figure^[3].

Other Sports

The Brian Lara Cricket Academy was meant to be a component of a larger complex situated on 180 acres (0.73 km²) of farm lands in Tarouba, Trinidad with a cost of $1.1 billion TT dollars. It was designed by Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum, a US architectural firm. The Brian Lara stadium and cricket academy was proposed to consist of:

• An aquatic centre containing Olympic standard pools. This project was eventually moved and completed at Couva in the vicinity of the Ato Boldon Stadium^[4].
• Olympic-sized cycling velodrome which was constructed in Couva in the vicinity of the Ato Boldon Stadium^[5]
• Indoor gymnasium.
• School for training of athletes.
• A large car park, new roads and other infrastructural works.

View across the stands in the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba

This stadium will serve as a training facility for cricket players. It will feature four indoor cricket training pitches with computerised biometric technology to measure an athlete’s performance, including two full-length run-up pitches for fast-bowlers. Patrons at the stadium will have an unhindered view from every area of the facility, including the concessionaires area. It also has areas specifically designed for the print, radio and television media, respectively. The facility may also see the construction of a hotel in the future. It has been estimated to cost an additional 190 million dollars to complete.

References