Billy MacDermott, the International Cricket Council Americas regional development officer, is satisfied with Bermuda’s state of preparedness to host the Men's T20 World Cup Americas Regional Qualifier.

MacDermott made an official visit to the island last week, to meet with the Bermuda Cricket Board as well as government officials.

He also made a visit to the National Sports Centre’s North Field and White Hill Field, the venues for the tournament scheduled for September 28 to October 8, together with the accommodation facilities for the teams.

“I came to Bermuda because we are preparing for a tournament, regional final qualifier for the World Cup end of September beginning of October,’’ MacDermott said.

“It’s the pinnacle of our events, it’s preparation for the World Cup next year. We know Bermuda can deliver the highest standard of an event, so we’re happy to have picked Bermuda as the hosts, we’re really looking forward to it.

“We had to come earlier to make sure that everything is in place.

“We went to the hotel where the teams are going to be staying, we checked the times from the hotel to the venues, then we inspected the venues to make sure that the wicket was fine and the infrastructure was up to standard.

“Everything is in place now, we will be fine by the end of September.”

In 2019, the last time Bermuda hosted a similar tournament, there were issues with North Field, after complaints from visiting teams that the pitch was turning too much.

That led to the remaining fixtures for that competition switched to White Hill. A lot of work has been put into North Field by the BCB, much to the satisfaction of the ICC.

“That was one of the reasons why we did this visit prior to the tournament,’’ MacDermott added. “There has been a lot of progress put into it, you could see that people have worked hard, and it’s looking quite good.

“We also have the Bermuda Premier League in September, which is going to be kind of a dry run so they can see if there is any work to be done before the regional final.

“We’re going to be in good shape and I am confident we’re going to be OK for the tournament.’’

MacDermott’s visit coincided with the island’s biggest sporting event, the annual Cup Match Classic. The Argentinian could not resist the urge to attend the two-day classic at Wellington Oval, in what was the first time for him to witness the battle between the east and the west.

“They say you don’t know Bermuda until you’ve been to Cup Match,” he said.

“I really enjoyed my first experience, the atmosphere was amazing. Some of the talent on display on the field was amazing, too.”