By Paras Ramoutar, IANS
Port-of-Spain (Trinidad) : Cricket World Cup 2007 grossed US$25 million in gate receipts alone, according to figures released here.
Anand Daniel, chief executive officer of the Local Organsing Committee (LOC), told the media here at a function: "If you wrap integrity, vision and the behavioural pattern in that context, we had a winning package that made the tournament such a big success."
The nearly 50-day long tournament grossed US$25 million from ticket sales to 425,000 spectators in all matches held in seven countries in the Caribbean.
India played all its matches here, and several thousand Indians came from the US, Canada and England apart from the subcontinent only to see their team make a shock exit in the first round itself.
"It was a very rewarding experience. I have always been involved in cricket but to be involved in cricket's premier event was a great honour for me to represent my country and the region," Daniel said.
Trinidad and Tobago's Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Roger Boynes praised the LOC for a job well done. He received a silver-plated plaque sent by the International Cricket Council to Prime Minister Patrick Manning.
Meanwhile, former West Indies wicket keeper Deryck Murray said the future of cricket in the Caribbean lies in the secondary schools league.
"The future of cricket in T&T and the West Indies lies in the secondary school cricket league system. This is the direction we have to head to get back West Indies cricket back to where it was," he said while addressing an awards function here.
Murray told the students that they hold the future of cricket in their hands.
"For West Indies cricket to flourish, Trinidad and Tobago has to take the lead. There is no shortage of talent in T&T, but the talent must be nurtured in the rightway through the right channels," he added.
"Certified West Indies coaches should be at every school to give professional training and the schools and the individual coaches must take it upon themselves to get the training required to help move forward," Murray said.
Murray, vice-captain of the West Indies team in the 1970s and 80s, said that cricket in the secondary school system was the ideal spot to make the West Indies regain its lost glory.