The opening ceremony for the ICC Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007 will be the greatest challenge for the integration of functional areas during the two-month tournament.

In addition, the fact that it will be the world's first glimpse of ICC CWC 2007 proper - as it will be televised live - event manager for the opening ceremony, Martin Lewis, says everyone involved will have to "tune in to what needs to be done".

This is particularly important as the multi-purpose stadium in Trelawny, where the event takes place on March 11, will be the scene of the West Indies' warm-up fixture against India just 48 hours before, on March 9.

"It will be a challenge but we will have to work around the warm-up schedule. As soon as that match is over, a technical team of 300 persons will work from Friday night, non-stop on the installation, right through to the opening ceremony. This will be the largest stage and sound set-up in the Caribbean.

"We will have three rehearsals, one at 2 p.m. on Saturday (March 10), and this will be followed by our time-of-day rehearsal at 5:15 p.m. - which is the precise time at which the opening ceremony will commence - and then a final rehearsal at 6 a.m. on the Sunday morning (March 11)," stated Lewis.

Mass rehearsal

Preparations, he disclosed, are well under way for the opening ceremony with the first mass rehearsal having been held two Sundays ago (February 11) at the stadium and another yesterday.

"We had 700 performers last Sunday (February 11) and we will have about 900 on Sunday (yesterday)," he added. "Then, on February 24, the full complement of more than 2,000 persons will participate. It is important for us to do these rehearsals at the venue, as the performers and crew must be acclimatised to the field, the stage and the grandeur of it all," explained Lewis.

Meanwhile, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Owen Ellington, who chairs Jamaica's Local Security Committee, noted that the spectacle, which will run three hours exactly, will require a high level of security, especially given the logistics of transporting a large number of performers and technical crew to and from Kingston.

Additionally, he said, there are other key matters: safety and security at the stadium (both for people and assets; traffic separation (vehicular and pedestrian) and control, as well as the integration of safety and security with other functional areas.

Ellington acknowledged the opening ceremony will be a major test for the security forces but is confident that all involved have been well prepared to handle this event.