'Like bad day at City Gate' for T20 World Cup fans

FANS attending the West Indies T20 World Cup match against New Zealand on the night of June 12 were left frustrated trying to access the park-and-ride option from South Park Mall, as there was no crowd control, with people pushing to get on buses.

On the other hand, fans described the park-and-ride shuttle from the Petrotrin compound as smooth.

From 5.30 pm, fans were able to access shuttles from South Park and Petrotrin to the nearby Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba.

It was described by ICC as three simple steps.

"Secure your vehicle at our designated park-and-ride venues," was the first step, followed by "Hop on our comfortable shuttle service using your game day ticket."
Lastly, "Watch the matches without worrying about parking."

On his own experience, a fan named Aaron said, "That was chaos...like a bad day at City Gate."

The shuttle Aaron went on shut down.

"Easy and convenient," Darren Baldeo described the process from Petrotrin. Baldeo, who is visiting from Florida added, "It had plenty buses lined up."

"My experience was not so great," Baldeo's friend Subash Ragbir said. "We parked at South Park and it was difficult to find parking inside the park. We got there 5.30, 5.45 pm, and there were thousands of people lined up for buses.

"There were buses coming, but we decided to walk."

Baldeo's son Trent was elated to be at his first cricket match.

Antiguan Russell James and Grenadian Marcus Stcyr also attended the match.

James said, "It was not the best. There is no park at South Park and we got there like after six, so we had to spin, spin, spin to try to find a park. After successfully finding a park, we had to wait to get on to a bus. The shuttle ride was all right."

James gave the organisers credit for trying the park-and-ride option, "I would not give it a failing (grade), because it was the first time."

But Kelsey Sutherland said they did not seem ready for the large crowd.

"They were not prepared," he said.

Sutherland was a bit concerned about what would occur after the match.

"Let's say the game finish 11.30 pm, everybody will be leaving at the same time. So we will just wait and see."

The match bowled off at 8.30 pm in front of a near-capacity crowd with calypso legend David Rudder singing the West Indies anthem, Rally Round the West Indies, which has been the team's "national anthem" for all major cricket tournaments.

The place was buzzing before the match, as a rhythm section and traditional Carnival characters greeted fans before they entered the venue.

West Indies legend Sunil Narine also made an appearance in the pre-match activities. Narine was asked to come out of retirement before the World Cup, but declined the offer.