Bajan banker Robert Le Hunte, who runs the Barbados National Banks, has said the 2007 ICC World Cup should have been hosted in fewer Caribbean nations, which would have made for better profits and lesser losses.

"If I had to do it over again, I think probably we should not have had the World Cup spread out throughout the whole region.

"We should have concentrated it in a smaller amount of countries.

"There would have been less money spent by the smaller countries, so that would have been better for a region rather than having this thing all over the place and having these small islands get into that level of expenditure," said Le Hunte.

"And rather than everybody making a small amount of money or having losses, it would overall have been more profitable."

Le Hunte said that ideally, the host nations could have "shared profits".

But, he added, this was highly unlikely. "That is really wishful thinking. Nothing in the Caribbean talks about that, but if we were operating with a little more unity."

According to Le Hunte, it was questionable whether the smaller nations would be able to recoup the financial costs outlaid for the event.

According to him, many of these countries lacked the proper infrastructure to capitalise on their tourism product.

"In some of the other Caribbean countries, I question the level of expenditure as it relates to the size of the country, its potential and its infrastructural development for long term tourism. In those countries I have a serious concern," he said.

Former ICC president Ehsan Mani, however, said that the World Cup would leave a legacy for the Caribbean in the shape of the many new and/or refurbished stadiums that had come up across the Caribbean.

"We see the superb infrastructure which probably wouldn’t have happened but for the World Cup," he felt.

***

Aussie PM praises McGrath

Sydney: Prime Minister John Howard on Sunday led the congratulations for Australia’s World Cup winning team with praise for outgoing fast-bowler Glenn McGrath.

The Aussie Prime Minister, often described as a "cricket tragic", said he got up in the middle of the night to watch some of Adam Gilchrist’s record knock of 149 which put Australia on the road to victory against Sri Lanka.

"Congratulations to Ricky (Ponting) and the boys, but to Glenn McGrath, that lanky bloke from Narromine, thanks for a wonderful contribution to Australian cricket," Howard said.

"He’s a wonderful bloke and he’s been a wonderful player and he went out on a very high note." (AFP)