Expensive ticket prices have kept locals from attending games, eliminating the carnival atmosphere organisers had hoped for. Photo / Reuters
Monique Devereux, former chief reporter at the Herald and now Christchurch correspondent for Radio New Zealand, is at the Cricket World Cup. She brings nzherald.co.nz regular news and views from the West Indies
No country wants itself promoted in a negative light, or have any international event it hosts seen to be a failure, which is fair enough.
Reality, however, always sees through romanticism.
This Cricket World Cup is not a rousing success. Newspapers around the globe have already printed the
pictures of empty stadiums and run stories about the frustrations of trying to work with no working technology.
The backlash has now begun in the local press.
Antigua's Daily Observer today reports that the profits the International Cricket Council is expecting of around US$550 million far outweighs what each of the Caribbean nations involved will see.
This has been debated in the Jamaican House of Representatives this week, with the finance minister admitting there were now "serious questions being posed about the way in which the revenues are shared".
The ICC will profit mostly from broadcast rights. Caribbean nations now realise they will not be getting a cut of.
Also, there is no guarantee that profits from gate takings will be shared with the country hosting the game. Caribbean countries spent a collective US$750 million upgrading or building new stadiums.
All remain in debt and won't see a return from this World Cup.
The project set up in Antigua that encouraged people to borrow against their mortgage and extend their homes to be part of a homestay network for fans has also failed.
Of the 3000 rooms registered with the programme, only 200 were booked by cricket fans. The Government is now being asked to help the homeowners cover their mortgage shortfall.
The West Indies Cricket Board has been blasted by a Barbados government minister for agreeing to conditions in order to secure the tournament that basically killed off any Caribbean flavour, by banning musical instruments at games and setting ticket prices ridiculously high.
All add up to the local people being left out of pocket.
In three weeks the rest of the world will move on. But here the blame game has only just begun.
