Brian Lara Cricket Academy

Brian Lara Cricket Academy

Description

The Brian Lara Cricket Academy is a state-of-the-art competition venue and training facility for the development of world-class cricketers, located in Tarouba, San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago. It is named after former West Indies cricket captain Brian Lara, one of the greatest batters to have played the game. The Academy has a total capacity of 15,000 people in a mix of fixed seating and grass banks. The playing field has a 72-meter radius or 16,288 square meter playing field encompassing 6 pitches on the playing field, and 12 outdoor practice pitches, 9 of which are grassed and 3 are concrete/artificial turf. The Academy also features an LED scoreboard, officials and team locker rooms, gymnasium facilities, and operational equipment. Additionally, the Academy has 20 concession booths and 4 novelties booths, as well as two car parks located to the North and South with a capacity to accommodate approximately 3,000 cars.

The Academy is used mostly for cricket matches, including the domestic Caribbean Premier League (CPL). The CPL finals were held at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy ground from 2018-2020. The Academy is also used for cycling events, with the Cycling Time Trial and Cycle Road Race taking place on the 5 and 7 of August, with laps of 5km being raced by the riders. The Academy has also boosted the national interest in the game of cricket by providing a world-class location for cricket matches and giving aspiring players the advantage of a state-of-the-art training facility.

Details

Primary Function:

• Cricket stadium - mostly used for cricket matches including the domestic Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
• Capacity: 15,000 people (fixed seating and grass banks)

Background:

• Completed and inaugurated in 2017
• Named after Brian Lara, the legendary West Indies batsman
• Part of a larger planned complex that never fully materialized

Current Status:

• Primarily a cricket stadium
• There have been talks of operationalizing the academy aspect in the future

Records

The Brian Lara Cricket Academy (BLCA) has a limited history of hosting international matches. Here's what we know:

• Test Matches: There haven't been any Test matches played at the BLCA as of today
• ODIs: There's only been one ODI match played at the BLCA so far. It was between India and West Indies in August 2023 
• T20s: The BLCA has seen a bit more action in T20s. There was a single T20I between India and West Indies in August 2023, alongside matches from the Dream 11 Trinidad T10 Blast in June 2023.

BLCA is primarily used for domestic matches and T10 tournaments.

History of this stadium

The Brian Lara Cricket Academy (BLCA) has a history intertwined with the 2007 Cricket World Cup. Here's a breakdown:

• Commissioned in 2004: The government of Trinidad and Tobago, through UDeCOTT (a state-owned company), began building the BLCA 
• Purpose: The initial goal was to create a high-class venue for the 2007 Cricket World Cup, specifically hosting warm-up matches alongside the Queen's Park Oval
• Missed Deadline: Construction delays plagued the project, pushing back the completion date and causing cost increases. The BLCA wasn't ready in time for the World Cup, and warm-up matches were held elsewhere
• Post-World Cup: Despite the initial setback, the BLCA was eventually finished in 2017. Today, it's a functional stadium with a capacity of 15,000 and has even hosted CPL finals in recent years

While not operational for the World Cup as intended, the Brian Lara Cricket Academy stands today as a cricket venue named after the legendary West Indies batsman.